App State Coach Shawn Clark (9/2/21)

The question is, ARE YOU READY? This is The Drive with Josh Graham. I'm walking here! On Sports Hub Triad. It is a football Friday. And you're on the drive?

Well, I was dead wrong about the Pirates, wasn't I? Mountaineer fans, today is your day. Sean Clark will join us shortly at 3.30. Let's just get the shaming portion of today's proceedings out of the way. Get it out of our system so we can finally talk football.

Robert, I know you've got Sarah McLachlan cooked up for later. Just hit me with it now so we can, you know, take me out of my misery. We can get to the bet, we can get to the football. Just hit me with it. I've finally gotten there with East Carolina. Two days ago, I didn't even like the Pirates plus the points. ECU shows blitz, here it comes.

Pressure doesn't get there in time. Bryce with a heave to the end zone, Thomas Hennigan, touchdown and state for the equalizer. My biggest concern for App is the area I feel most comfortable about with the Pirates, quarterback. Here's a deep shot, Thomas Hennigan, beautiful catch across the middle, taking it to the sideline.

Second time, it's been a deep ball to Hennigan this evening. He caught a 34-yard touchdown in the first quarter and goes for 69 here. I'm taking East Carolina 31, Appalachian State 27, argh. And the Mountaineers run past the Pirates, 33 to 19 is your final in Charlotte. Hey, that's my buddy Lauren Walsh from WXII making an appearance in there. I love how you threw the argh in there as well.

Drink it up, Robert Walsh, the producer of this show, Cole, interning the day, the gang's all here. A bet is a bet and I plan to wear an App State cheerleading outfit on Monday. I don't feel great about it. But I also don't believe East Carolina is a bad football team either. App State was just better and it was an impressive display in Charlotte. To me, the difference in the game was that quarterback you heard some of the play-by-play from just a second ago, Chase Price.

Nothing else App did was surprising to me. Dominant O-line play, their coach used to be an App State offensive lineman. He was an O-line coach. That's what he does.

That's their identity. That's what the Mountaineers have been doing for decades. So the running game naturally was going to be good. A couple hundred yard rushers following behind those big guys pushing the line back.

Can't say I was surprised by that. The defense topping the group of five last year. You've got 10 starters back. Last year I think they averaged about 20 points allowed per game. So 19 was right on the money for where they've been.

The one area I had the biggest question mark about turned out to be one of the strengths of the Mountaineers. I didn't see it coming. It was Chase Price delivering. 20 of 27 for 260 yards and two touchdowns. And he was gunning it. He took shots downfield. Robert, I had a deep sinking feeling in my gut the first play from scrimmage.

I don't know if you remember it. But all week I was listening to press conferences from Coach Clark. And the one guy he singled out a handful of times, Robert, talking about the Pirates. Jaquan McMillan.

He kept saying, they're cornered. Jaquan McMillan, one of the best corners in America. So what does AP do the first play from scrimmage? They take a shot. And they take a shot right at McMillan. As if to tell you, we're confident. We're not going to back down.

We're going to go straight at you. And even though the pass fell incomplete, not many others fell incomplete. He had confidence. The two biggest throws were deep shots. After East Carolina had that opening score to go up 6-0, it was followed up with that bomb to Hennigan that was right on the money. Then in the second half, East Carolina gets on the scoreboard. They're feeling pretty good.

They still have some life. After a field goal, two play drive, you have the bomb to Hennigan, then the touchdown to Sutton, who's a Charlotte product. He took shots. I didn't see that coming. And Brian Geissinger was talking about this earlier with A.G.

But I want to go a step further. I hope people realize how unprecedented what Appalachian State's doing right now. We've never seen this before in college football.

Not from Marshall, not from... I could pull a laundry list of different examples. Teams going from FCS to FBS and not really seeing drop-off. The Mountaineers had one bad year when they went from FCS to the Sunbelt. First year, they really struggled. But then they adapted, and they won double-figure games that second year with Satterfield. It's amazing to consider.

And I think we got this sound from Sean Clark from last night, don't we? App State is just cycling coaches who aren't leaving because of poor performance, but because they're getting a head coaching job at Missouri or at Louisville. Power five jobs.

And you're not seeing drop-off. And they're going from quarterback to quarterback, whether it's Lamb or Thomas, and now Chase Price. And the success is just there. And I came away so impressed with what Appalachian State did. I wish I would have heard Sean Clark say this before beating East Carolina, but this is some of his postgame comments. If I heard Coach Clark tell me this on Tuesday or Wednesday, I guarantee you I wouldn't be making a bet wearing an App State cheerleading outfit.

I promise you that. This was Coach Clark. I think it goes back to Sunday and Monday when we had our Tuesday and Wednesday practice. Our guys were locked in, and we had a walkthrough on Tuesday and a runthrough on Wednesday and came down here Wednesday night. And I told our director of football operations, it's over. I really wasn't worried about it. After Wednesday night, I knew this game was done. Unbelievable. 3-3-6-7 is up at 7-1-600 if you want in.

On Twitter at WSJS Sports. Tonight, it's finally here. Or I guess I should say this afternoon.

Robert, we've discussed this before. When does the afternoon blend into night? 6 o'clock kick, Tar Heels Hokies, is that a late afternoon kick or is that a night kickoff? I think anything after 4 is no longer the afternoon. It's evening? Like after, literally afternoon. Okay. After noon, 12 o'clock. I struggle with this. 4 o'clock.

I would say that's afternoon. Well, tonight, we're gonna get some answers. Some real answers about the Tar Heels. Talking season, it's over.

Now you gotta start delivering. And for a team like North Carolina, first impressions really do matter. The nation is gonna be watching at 6 p.m. There are only 4 games across the country on after 15 last night. I think North Carolina is the only team ranked in the top 10 or in the top 15. Or I think even in the top 20 in the AP poll that's in action tonight.

Utah I think is the only other ranked team. So everybody's gonna be watching. You got Mac Brown, you got the Heisman quarterback. It's an ACC game right out of the gate. And like it or not, fair or not, opinions will be molded based on your first impression. Many of the people that watch Vote for the Heisman Trophy, they're gonna have eyes on you tonight. And if you have a stinker or if you don't meet expectations, it's gonna be hard to overcome that first impression that people create tonight. If they're unimpressive, that's gonna matter for a guy like Sam Howell trying to divide to be the Heisman Trophy winner.

If they are impressive though, look out. Because North Carolina's not gonna lose to Georgia State next week. They're not going to lose to Virginia in 2 weeks. That game's at Keenan. I don't think they're gonna lose on the road at Georgia Tech. I don't think they're gonna lose to Florida State or Duke.

Both those games are at Keenan as well. That hype is only gonna climb so the first impressions, they work both ways. It could work in North Carolina's favor or it could work against the Tar Heels. Style of play will be the most intriguing thing to me. I think it'll be telling if North Carolina wins, and I do expect them to even though I've been uneasy about this all week long. Will North Carolina be balanced? Or will it look like a Big 12 team slinging it all over the yard after losing to 1,000 yard rushers?

That's a big question that I have. The last 2 years we've seen this game, high scoring. I was at the game a year ago when North Carolina won 56-45. 2 years ago, it was at the time NCAA record for overtimes, 6 OTs between the Tar Heels and the Hokies. North Carolina lost that game in Blacksburg.

A lot of points are scored. And you got a lot of guys back who played in both those games and performed pretty well. James Mitchell was a top performer for Virginia Tech a year ago. I think he led them in receiving, had over 100 yards at the tight end. Robinson, Tavion Robinson, I remember he had a couple of scores 2 years ago in that 6 overtime game. Trey Turner, he's back for Virginia Tech.

Braxler-Burmeister, he's not hidden hooker, but he's a returning starter at quarterback. I don't think you want to get into a shootout if you're North Carolina. So the question becomes, can you win in a variety of different ways? I hope that's what North Carolina does because that will be telling to me if they can win with defense or win with special teams. They didn't do a heck of a lot of that last year. If they lose, a loss would be earth shattering. There goes the ACC Championship dreams. There goes any hope of being a top 10 team. The Heisman-Howe stuff, it's all gone.

And I don't suspect it's going to dissipate tonight. As soon as the schedule was revealed, the ACC slate, this was the game I pointed to. All these big games across the ACC in week 1, this is what I felt the most impactful conference game was. I like North Carolina to win it. Tar Heels 31, Virginia Tech 24. As I mentioned, App State coach Sean Clark going to be with us at 3.30. NC State, I don't think we forgot about you Wolfpack fans.

App State won last night, NC State did too. They sent a message and I'll tell you what I interpreted that message to be next on the drive. He's got a lot of knowledge about things I'm curious about and he's cool. You're on the drive with Josh Graham on WSJS Sports. The head coach of the Mountaineer, Sean Clark, is here. And coach, I want to fill you in on something I'm sure you're going to find entertaining. I wish you would have told me how confident you were going into last night. I heard your postgame comments where you said on Tuesday and Wednesday you saw how dialed in your guys were. And you just knew you were going to win. And I wish you would have told me how confident you were going into last night. I heard your postgame comments where you said on Tuesday and Wednesday you saw how dialed in your guys were. And you just knew you were going to win.

Because it's no secret, me and Robert, we've talked about this before. We went to East Carolina and I drank some of the pirate Kool-Aid and said probably the Pirates are going to win last night. And some of the App State fans, and there are a ton of them in the triad, told me to back up my words. And one of them put up an App State cheerleading outfit and said if I was wrong he would bring it to the studio. And next week something might happen that's probably going to make my parents not so proud.

So I wish you would have told me. That would have been good information to have, Coach. Our kids played really hard last night. I thought we played complimentary football. All three phases, offense, defense, special teams.

Our kids were locked in. We used to have been the Hunter, the Hunted in our conference around the country. And now we're out hunting right now because last year at 9-3 that's a great record.

And it usually gets coaches extensions. But at Appalachian State that's a bad season. So our goal is to be 1-0. And I know that throughout the week we were locked in. Our guys were focused.

There wasn't any mental errors. And we had our team meeting Wednesday night. And after that team meeting I told our coaches, we got this. This game is over.

And I'm very proud of the way our guys competed, the way they played, the way they represented our program. When the adrenaline's going after a season-opening win and it's a night game, I heard you guys got back at around 2.30, 3 o'clock in the morning. How do you sleep after that? It was, well, we got back about 2.45. And then my family stayed in Charlotte last night. So I just came into work.

And I worked about 5.30 this morning, 6 o'clock. Went and got some breakfast. And now we're already moving on to Miami. So it was a very exciting game. Our adrenaline was pumping. It was great to have the fans back. I mean, that's a big plus for us. We feed off our fans. I think we're the best fans in college football. And I was jacked up for our kids and for our fans.

And so I said, come in and get some work done and we'll relax this afternoon. Tell me something that didn't stand out so much right in front of you on the sideline as it's happening, but when you watched the tape you said, man, that was impressive. Well, I thought our offensive line played very well. And we gave up one sack, which that's unacceptable. But, you know, we have a great quarterback in Chase and our receivers and tight ends. And they're getting a lot of the credit. But the offensive line played very well. It kept Chase clean most of the evening.

And that was fun to watch, just to watch those guys compete. And, you know, East Carolina has a really good football team. And I have a lot of respect for Coach Houston.

And he's getting that thing turned around. But we're fortunate enough. You know, 34 years we've had two losing seasons. So we know how to win. We know what it takes to win. And our guys are ready to kick off this 21 season.

It's App State Coach Sean Clark with us here on WSJS Sports. You mentioned that the prep's already started with Miami. Given all Miami has lost on the D-line and what you just said about your guys up front, how much, how good do you feel about your group's ability to match up with a Power Five top 25 ranked team next week?

Well, we're just getting into film right now. We have a ton of respect for Miami. You know, we don't recruit the same kind of guys. I don't think they, we've never beaten Miami on a recruit ever in the history of our school. But it's a great opportunity for us to represent the Sunbelt and Appalachian State University. And just to go put a great product on the field.

And if we go out and play, you never will play error-free. If you eliminate mistakes and we're able to get the game to the fourth quarter, we've got a chance to win. Sean Clark's with us here. The offensive line is something I expect to be really good when teams are coached by a head coach who played offensive line and has background as an O-line coach. So that didn't really surprise me much seeing how much push you guys had in the trenches and running back play. Obviously it was really good too when you have a couple hundred yard rushers.

The defense last year, maybe the best defense in the group of five. So it didn't surprise me seeing what you guys did last night either. But having seen what Chase Bryce struggled with last year at Duke, that was a question mark for a lot of Mountaineer fans last night wanting to see what it looked like. I know you've given a lot of praise to Chase going into the year and certainly last night. When did you have an idea Chase Bryce could execute this offense that kind of way?

Well, that was a knock on Chase since he had 15 turnovers last year, interceptions. We had a chance to talk to Clemson, talk to the coaches at Duke and realize what kind of kid he was. He's a great kid. He's a great leader. He fit our culture. But unfortunately for Chase, last year he never had a chance to meet in person with his coaches until four or five days before the first game.

And that's hard. He came here in the spring practice. They're watching me evolve, learning the offense. And then our first scrimmage in fall camp, I think he threw for seven touchdowns versus a very good defense.

And that's never happened here before. So we knew he had a special talent. And he's that guy, he doesn't want the praise. He wants to get the glory. And we're proud of Chase. He looked like he was having fun last night. And these guys are 20, 22 years old. And there's a lot of pressure on these guys to play at a high level.

But just to watch them enjoy the game and have fun, that was very rewarding for us. What did David Cutcliffe tell you that resonated most, that you bought and said, yep, okay, if Cutcliffe's saying this about Chase Bryce, this is something we need to seriously consider? Well, it was actually Coach Fry, their offensive line coach, we go way back. And he just said, listen, it's unfortunate.

It's the way it happened. And he just didn't learn the system well enough. Coach Cutcliffe's one of the best coaches ever in college football. He's like the quarterback whisperer. I mean, every chance of Coach Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and Jones, his resume speaks for itself.

But just listen to those guys down there. Coach Fry said, hey, man, this guy's a winner. He had a bad year. And he would take him if he was another coach from another place. So a guy I trust in a profession, so we took his word for it. And you saw what happened last night.

App State Coach Sean Clark with us here on WSJS Sports. What you're describing with Chase kind of reminds me of what Panther coaches have been saying about Sam Darnold going into this year. And Sam said something yesterday that one of the areas he specifically wanted to work on is trusting his protection because he didn't have a lot of great protection in New York. And he's been watching film of himself. And he notices the happy feet, the happy feet in the pocket.

And he's wanting to calm things down. It's been an adjustment. There are some scar tissue there for Sam Darnold. Has there been an adjustment at all with Chase given the turnovers and a lot of the pressure he felt and not getting a lot of great protection at Duke where you see Chase getting adapted to having a trustworthy line in front of him and becoming more comfortable in this offense?

I think so. And I think probably the biggest thing that stands out for Chase in our program is he doesn't have to win the game. He has eight receivers that can go in and play anywhere in the country.

He's got two great running backs, really good offensive line, good tight ends. And for us, you know, we talked the other night with Chase and I, and I said, you just have to manage the game. And they don't care how many touchdown passes you throw, it's about getting your team in the end zone. And don't try to make the play that's going to be on ESPN. Just manage the game, take what the defense gives you, and don't throw picks. And he had one pick last night, and that was really my fault. I changed the play there. If I had to do it over again, I would go with my first intuition.

But, again, I think he's just trusting his players around, letting those guys win for him. And I think that's the sign I've been a really good quarterback. I saw you finally met Luke Combs last night. How did that go?

It was fantastic. He came to the locker room. Actually, Luke Combs was in my office about eight minutes ago, and he was here for about an hour in my office.

We started talking. You know, what a great ambassador for our university. He loves this place, and we're about to have this big show here tomorrow night. You know, what a great weekend. Had a big-time win last night on ESPN, and had a chance to come back and watch the tape. We'll go to the concert tomorrow and then get on to Miami on Sunday. So I can't wait.

I'm like a little kid in candy shops, like a kid at Christmas right now. I'm excited to see him play and have fans in our stands again. Do I have it right that you and Luke Combs were singing in the locker room last night?

There's a rumor going around. We have a song we sing as a program for every win we do, and he came up there and he said, how about singing one of my songs with me? So we sang Beer Never Broke My Heart, and our players loved it. I mean, that place was electric last night. It was just fun to be there. Everyone was in awe, but he's just one of us.

He's just a normal dude, and that was pretty special. Has Sean Clark ever seen karaoke? I do sing karaoke a little bit. You don't want to hear it or put it on the radio, but in my eyes, I sound like Eric Church and Luke Combs. So that's what you're singing. You're singing country. You're getting on stage. You've got maybe a Yosef in your hand, and hey, we're going to sing some Eric Church or Luke Combs. That's what we're going with.

Without question. That's what we do. I'm from West Virginia. I love my country music. It's about real people, and usually you lose your dog, lose your wife, or something else from country music, but that's the kind of guy I am.

I like to sit back and relax, listen to a little country music, and it's good for your soul. Congratulations on the win last night in Charlotte. It was fun to watch and seeing all those fans in the stands and such, even though me and Robert's alma mater lost in it.

It's just great to watch a great team execute, and you guys did just that, and we're certainly going to be rooting for you guys in Miami next week. Thanks for doing this. I appreciate it. Again, thanks to you guys for having me on, and I say hello to all the fans in the Triad area, and you guys make us go, and we look forward to seeing you guys in the Rock when we play Elon. So thanks, guys, for having me on, and have a great weekend. There he goes. That's Sean Clark, kind enough to be here on WSJS Sports. Robert, we have quite the group going here when it comes to Rhinestone Cowboy on Fridays. If Sean Clark was added to that mix, I think he'd fit in pretty well, don't you?

I don't know. We got the deep covered. He would have to reach those parts of his voice that I don't think are there anymore, especially after hollering last night. Yeah, and you've got the twangy part down.

I think it would be twangy. Can't you just picture Sean Clark, though, with the Yosef? He's on stage, maybe singing, you don't call me by your name, David Allen Cole. No, I'm always going to picture Sean Clark, just like last night when he had 10 people in the field and he needed 11. That was my favorite Sean Clark moment of the whole game. I saw him count. He got to 10. He realized it wasn't 11. They pull everybody off the field.

They call a time out and they find out who the one guy that's not out there. We should have asked him about that. They laid into him and just Sean's facials during the whole thing. He was hollering.

He was so mad, even though he was laying the smackdown. There are a lot of college football games to talk about. There were 15 games last night, Robert, and we got a ton of great college football games coming up this weekend. We don't have nearly the time to spend lengthy amounts of time talking about each one. So here's what we're going to do.

We've got to keep it simple, five words or less. You see, you have this segment and it comes handy on days like this football Friday. We'll keep it simple next on The Drive. He's really, really cocky.

Hold on and go with the ride. This is The Drive with Josh Graham on WSJS Sports. About 90 minutes away from kickoff in Blacksburg. So let's get a live report out from Lane Stadium being joined by the voice of the Tar Heels Jones Angel. And I want to start on a personal note for you, Jones, because you're going to be there in a full stadium of fans, not broadcasting remotely, but being there in the action. I remember Dave Claussen last year said just kicking it off last year, even though there weren't any fans, felt like an achievement. And he took a step back and was kind of emotional about just getting last year in and getting it kicked off. So in 90 minutes, when they're playing Inner Sandman and the Hokies are streaming out onto the field and the stands are full, what do you imagine you're going to be feeling and thinking about in that time?

Well, Josh, first of all, good to be with you. I think it's certainly relevant to juxtapose kind of where we are now compared to where you were a year ago, because at this time last year you didn't know if the season was going to occur. And if it did, could it be done safely? And what would it look like?

And what would all the changes be? It was just such an uncertain time. And so to fast forward here now a year later, and certainly we're not through the COVID woods, we all understand that, but to be in a better place just as far as our knowledge of what's happening and how to mitigate things and all those different things is a positive. And to be able to get to this point with the sport of football and to have the full stands and to have the confidence that you're going to get this season in is exciting. I think the lead up to this year has been as energetic and exciting as any one, because everybody did realize what they missed a season ago.

And so, yeah, when this game kicks off, when all the big games this weekend kick off, I think we'll all be excited for that game, of course, but also have a little more appreciation for what we're seeing and feeling, because nobody enjoyed it when it went away. I'm interested in style of play tonight for North Carolina. Without two 1,000-yard rushers, I fear North Carolina could lean a bit one-dimensional at times and look like a run-and-gun Big 12 team. I guess Mac Brown knows a thing or two about the Big 12, so that would make some sense. Do you have a similar fear, or do you feel this team can play and win a variety of ways? No, I don't have that concern at all. North Carolina, I do think it's valid to say that the Tar Heels probably don't know what their identity is right now offensively, because you are missing nearly 4,800 yards and 47 touchdowns from a year ago.

So you don't just snap your fingers and go, ah, that's no big deal. We'll just put Josh and Jones in there at the running back spot, and we'll do the same thing. That doesn't happen. North Carolina certainly feels confident in the talent level that it has at running back and at wide receiver to varying levels of experience on all those guys, but they feel like they know what they have and that they have confidence in them. And even having said that, you don't really know until you see them on game day.

You think you know who your best options are and who will excel in certain situations, but you just don't really know it until it happens. So I do think there's some mystery and then just lack of that definitiveness with Carolina's offense. But no, I don't think Carolina is going to come out here and throw the ball 65 times in this game. I think the book on Phil Longo is that he's this real big run and gun and swing it all over the place offensive coordinator. But if you really look at the numbers, I mean Carolina ran the football nearly 60 percent of the time last year.

Mac Brown and Phil Longo have long said they want the air raid portion of the offense in the pass game, but they want to pair it up with a power running attack. And Carolina did that in a big way last year and they'd like to figure out how to do it again this season. The last, Jones Angel's with us here, voice of the Tar Heels from Blacksburg. The last two times North Carolina's played Virginia Tech, you have these high-scoring games. And North Carolina has obviously the ability to pack some punch. Virginia Tech has Braxton Burmeister back. He was in a tandem with Hendon Hookers from the Triad last year, but Hendon's playing elsewhere. I look at the top three receivers that Tech has back.

I mean Robinson, Trey Turner, James Mitchell, those are familiar names. So do you anticipate a lot of points being up on the scoreboard or with this being the opener, maybe teams feel each other out a little bit? Yeah, I think it's always dangerous to try and say, oh yes, this is going to be a game where both teams scored in the 50s or the other way, the polar opposite of that. I will say, though, I would be surprised if it was as high a scoring game as it was last year for a couple of reasons. One, what we talked about with Carolina, the Tar Heels are still figuring things out a little bit offensively. Two, I think Carolina's defense is a lot better than it was a season ago. I think the Tar Heels will be able to better slow not just Virginia Tech but the opposing teams throughout the season.

I think Carolina will have a better opportunity to be more successful on the defensive side. And then as you mentioned, with it being the first game of the season, inevitably you are not going to play your best. There's going to be a penalty in there that you wouldn't have in game six. There might be a substitution mistake, a silly turnover, a mistake in the kicking game. Something like that that happens more often in week one than it does once you have things kind of in a rhythm later in the year. And so now, could this game be 70 to 63?

Of course it could be. But I would be surprised if either one of those teams had that level of offensive success in this particular game. Last thing for Jones-Angel before we get back to the games of last night, the wins for Appalachian State and NC State. It's North Carolina-Virginia Tech's six o'clock kick later this afternoon. I actually want to transition to basketball for a bit. Have you had a chance to step inside the Smith Center and watch some of the summer workouts under Coach Davis? You know, it's been a couple of weeks since I have seen the basketball team, Josh. Certainly some excitement around that team with a brand new head coach, of course, in Hubert Davis. It's just a new energy that comes whenever you make a coach insane, however it is made. And so, yeah, I think there's some real positivity and excitement around what's going to happen with Hubert Davis and Carolina basketball.

But still a long way to go, of course, and a lot of football to be played before that happens. Yeah. Really excited to get basketball season as we always are, but really fired up for this football team right now. Is it to watch a North Carolina practice run without Roy Williams being in the building running it? Yeah, absolutely. I think that happens any time that you have one of the absolute legends of the game step aside.

It just feels different. But I think part of what has made Carolina so consistently excellent in that sport is that while it will be a different man who is now the head coach, Carolina basketball is still Carolina basketball. There's going to be some core principles both on and off the court that will remain the same. And I think that's part of the reason why it was so important to not just Roy Williams, but to Carolina in total, to find whoever the next coach was going to be, find someone who understood that and could nurture that and continue that forward.

And so, yes, Hubert Davis is different than Roy Williams, of course, but Carolina basketball is still Carolina basketball. Jones Angel, good luck maneuvering the cow pastures and the mountains and all of that in Blacksburg. Have a great call tonight. We look forward to catching up sometime soon and watching the game. Thanks so much, Josh. Looking forward to it. There he goes.

The voice of the Tar Heels, Jones Angel. Big weekend, Robert. You were talking about all the things you got going on. Tomorrow, I pointed this out on social media. I mentioned before that my favorite brewery spot is no longer under the radar. It's been around for three years, is Incendiary Brewing. We have some ads that have been running the last, is it just today that we've been running these ads, Robert?

Yeah, just today we've been running these, but it's right there in the Medical District of Winston-Salem, has a wonderful patio. And two years ago is really when I started to like the joint, aside from the beer that they have, really good sours if you're into that, because there was this concert. I love live music. They were having a concert, Robert, on Labor Day weekend.

This is two years ago, 2019. It was on a Sunday, though. You know, a friend invited me out. Hey, you want to go hang out, grab a beer on a Sunday? We didn't have to work on Labor Day Monday.

We will be on the air this Monday, though. And so I went and we go to Incendiary. There are a lot of people there. A lot of people. And they have live music. It's really good.

I'm standing there. And I hear that song from the mid-2000s, kind of cut from the Nickelback cloth, Robert. A band called Fuel. I don't know if you remember Fuel, but they had this song called In my head, in my head. You know what I'm talking about?

Yeah, I know who it is. Yeah, they have a couple of songs that are pretty good. And I thought, man, this band's doing a really good job covering that song. And then I realized, oh, wait, that's actually Fuel.

That happened to me two other times in my life. I was once in Greenville, America and walked into a bar and they're playing Cult 45, this group, which is a popular song in college. And then I realized that's actually Afro Man. And in Raleigh, this band was playing on a street corner really well, all for you by Sister Hazel.

And I realized, oh, that's Sister Hazel. So Saturday, that Sunday night, I actually watched Fuel. And apparently this weekend is their third anniversary as a brewery.

And guess what? They have another concert and it's for free and it's tomorrow. They have the Jim Blossoms coming to town.

Goodness, I love the Jim Blossoms and I love Incendiary. So I'm really excited to go. When we had a remote at Academy Sports off Stratford about a month ago, we had a chance to meet the owner and he was a big listener of the show. So we're really excited for this. This might be the place that I hang out at for Clemson in Georgia tomorrow. I don't know quite how I'm going to figure out that dynamic, though, between watching the concert and having a view of the stage versus, hey, I need to walk inside and keep an eye on perhaps the biggest regular season college football game out there.

But it's a really cool deal. If you haven't been to Incendiary, tomorrow is a great opportunity to do so. I was dead wrong about the Mountaineers last night. And I'll tell you why I think I was off here and what I felt the biggest difference in the game was next on The Drive.

I need the advice of a professional. This is The Drive with Josh Graham on WSJS Sports. Before we do Rhinestone Cowboy Friday, I thought I was out of the bet. I offered Mountaineer John $100. He accepted it, then Robert sabotaged it. So it looks like I'm still going to do this App State bet. Before we take it to the house and do Rhinestone Cowboy Friday, Mountain Bike Lynn in Greensboro, what do you have? You are going to wear that uniform because you made Robert sneakily kiss me in the mouth and win kiss tickets.

And so you need to have your come up and you need your payback. My daughter lives in Los Angeles. She's a graduate of App State.

She works for Red Bull Records out there. And I've already told her that I'm going to send her a picture of you. Are you going to wear that freaking uniform? There you go! I'm going to wear that uniform.

Thanks, Mountain Bike Lynn. You made him kiss you? Just worry about singing. Like a rhinestone cowboy!

Getting cards and letters and wearing cheerleader outfits. Because Josh can't pay off his bets. Not even the lyrics. Let's take it to the house. Pass to fifteen. Pass to ten. Pass to five. For the drive. We'll take it to the house!

One, two, three! I remember that. We were at a kickback Jackson Greensboro and you made this dude kiss you to get kiss tickets. I didn't make him. That was the rules. It was come and kiss Robert and win kiss tickets. That's right.

And I told him to look that way and as soon as he looked back this way, I planted one on him. That counts. A big weekend for a lot of things. Sports, people, whatever you do on weekends. But also a big weekend at Incendiary Brewing. They've got a big concert this weekend.

Gin Blossoms at six o'clock tomorrow. But they dropped some beer off for us. And the big percent on the bane, it is an imperial stout and it is fifteen percent.

And a lot of the guys in the office have been trying it out. And it made me think, what is the highest percent alcohol that's a beer? I was about to say some moonshine.

I got Cole to do a little research for me. So a Scottish brewery has something called snake venom that is sixty seven point five percent alcohol. Yes, sir. They call it the champagne of yeasts. So it doesn't try to hide the alcohol, it says. This is not for drinking, like chugging. This is something that you're supposed to sit and enjoy.

I don't know how you're going to enjoy it, but it seems like something you would have to if you're going to buy it. Because it comes with a pretty hefty price. Cole, how much was this thing?

Did you see that? It was like 80 bucks for two cups. Worth it.

It would be much more worth it for you to go into Incendiary Brewing. Josh hit on their sours earlier. He got me a couple of sours.

I've been in love with their coconut lime. Did they drop off any honey blondes? I have no idea. You're going to have to check the fridge back there. What is the highest percent? You're going to work. You're going to a game. You can't go in there with any beer. What's the what's the highest percent?

Truss Field coming your way. You guys remember drinking. I think we're past the statute of limitations to say that I had a since deceased like great uncle who decades ago, like a decade ago, had some pretty potent moonshine that he reserved or that he made. Probably could start a car with that. Once you get to the flammable level stuff, that's where you need to worry.

You're in trouble. Well, people also just take it. They're like, oh, it can't be that bad. And like with the fruit and stuff, they're like, oh, it's pineapple flavored.

It's apple pie flavored. It can't be that bad. Kind of like Four Locos, the old edition.

It's not that bad. Get a little bit of caffeine in you. Did I tell you that's the first two alcoholic beverages I've ever had? I drink two old Four Locos at the University of North Carolina. I don't remember anything about that night, but I do remember that they tasted like watermelon Jolly Ranchers. Bad news bears, man. I got to get the truest field. Enjoy the football and the gin blossoms. And we'll talk to you on Labor Day Monday.