Wake Me Up When September Ends

Yes, Josh Cram has opinions. There is nothing that entertains the audience and the masses more than me being bothered. And yes, he's got attitude.

Really, none of the game made sense to me. And that's exactly why you love him. When this all gets sorted out, I think you and me should get an apartment together. You're on The Drive with Josh Cram.

Yes, we could get an apartment together. Welcome to A Monday Drive. This is Will Dalton, the W.D.

executive producer of The Drive. Our guy, Josh Cram, he's out of town. He's slacking. He's out of here.

He's at the beach down at Dirty Myrtle on a Monday. So I'm over here filling in, trying to make sure I don't burn anything down. It's kind of interesting today because I've already done this once today. What, burn it down? Not burn it down per se, but I've been up since about four o'clock. Sucks, doesn't it?

Yes, it does. You know, because I've done double shifts before. I've produced Triad today and then produced our show.

I've never produced Triad today and then hosted the show. That's a little different. It is a little different. It's a little different because, I mean, I was explaining to somebody just a little while ago that it's a little bit more difficult to host a show than produce.

At least for me, because I could produce it in my sleep, I feel like now. But there's a lot of planning that goes into doing a show. There is. There's a lot of planning. There's a lot of content you've got to come up with and just getting stuff together.

Everybody thinks you just come in here and you start talking. I mean, I guess some people can do that. I mean, some people could probably pull it.

I couldn't do it. No, but no, I mean, three hours is a long time. It is a long time.

It's a long time. So that's DJ Turner. Hola. He's going to be running the board for me today, pressing the buttons.

Hopefully he can find all the hotkeys and everything over there. Drop it like it's hot. We will drop it like it's hot, but welcome in, everybody.

It is a Monday. The Panthers, they have had yet another preseason game. They lost yet another preseason game, but it feels slightly different this time around. They felt like they got slightly better. Now, you maybe wouldn't be able to know that if you didn't watch the game and you just read comments on Twitter, people complaining about the O-line and all of that.

I get it. I understand fans being upset about it. I really understand it because I'm a Panthers fan. Yes, I'm fortunate enough to where I cover a team that just happens to be in the state where I'm from, in the state where that's my favorite team, but I understand the offensive line has been a problem for a long time for the Panthers. I didn't even know this back then, but even in 2015 when the Panthers went on their Super Bowl run and Cam Newton was the MVP in 15-1 and all that, then they lost to the Broncos. Really, they lost to Von Miller in the Denver Broncos defense. However, they came into that season with the 32nd, I believe, out of 32 teams offensive line in the league last. So even that year when they went to the Super Bowl and were dominant, the offensive line was still a problem. I understand Panthers fans being a little yeesh right now.

I get it. But we'll get to that in just a minute because I do genuinely feel like even though they still lost, it was 21-19, and it took them a little while to get something going, really not until the second half to get something going, they did look like they made some progress. To me, I've always lived my life in a way where I just try to get a little better every day. To me, I think one of the best ways to be happy is to just try and improve a little bit every day. I've got a friend of mine, he gets frustrated with himself sometimes because he'll want to make these massive improvements or these massive things, and I'm like, well, you've got to take it one step at a time. You've got to take it one bite at a time, and he just wants to get the whole thing in one outing.

It unfortunately doesn't work that way, and if you try and go about it with that mindset, you're probably going to be disappointed more times than not. For one, and we'll get into some of the nuggets here of how they kind of look better, and just kind of some takeaways from the game in general. I thought Bryce Young looked a lot better. I thought he made some progress. I mean, he still hasn't made that mistake, and he didn't make a mistake in week one. He didn't make that turnover. He didn't throw an interception in, fumble, anything like that. Yeah, maybe a few incompletions, but he still hadn't turned over.

He's protecting the ball. I mean, C.J. Stroud can't say that even though he looked a whole lot better, and we'll get to that later in the show, but he had that bad pick in week one. Malik Willis, even though he's a second-year guy, he's still kind of in this category of young guys who are trying to figure it out.

He can't say that. He had a pick this week in week two, which, by the way, I'm fascinated by the whole situation in Tennessee with the Titans because, yeah, you got Ryan Tannehill, but what does that really get you? Like, if past history is any indication, Ryan Tannehill, his health and all that, it's not really reliable. Like, you got a young guy in Malik Willis. You got a young guy that you just drafted in Will Levis, and honestly, both of them looked really good in week one of the preseason. And then Malik Willis, he got all the snaps in week two this past weekend, and he looked good again. Yeah, he did have an interception, but he did have a touchdown in 85 yards, 10 of 17 passing, so maybe something brewing there in Tennessee. Also, Anthony Richardson can't say that he's not made that mistake yet. He had a horrendous interception in week one also, almost like he was trying to pull a Derek Jeter and throw it running backwards, the jump up in the air type thing.

I don't think that works. Jeet can do that. I don't think a quarterback trying to throw it 60 yards down the field can do that. So, you know, he had that happen, and even though it's kind of deep cut and he's also not a rookie, Trey Lance with the 49ers, like, he's still trying to figure it out.

So Bryce Young is fine. He's fine a few weeks in, and like maybe one of the few, like he went three of six passing, a lot of run plays as well, but one of the throwaways he had that maybe you could look at to where it was like, oh, that's kind of a bad pass, was that third and three play to Jonathan Mingo on the first drive where Bryce, he looked like he wanted to go to the right side of the field with it, and then there was nothing there, so he goes left. Mingo's cutting in towards the center from the left side, and Bryce throws it away, kind of leads him out too far, but if you really go back and take a look at it, Mingo had two defenders on him that were kind of holding him back there initially, so it kind of caused him to be late to the punch, and again, he's not turned the ball over. He's protected it, and when he does have incompletions, it's usually because he's being pressured because of that O line, and second, he does keep it away from the defenders, and when it is an incompletion, he leads it out so far.

It keeps it away, which is what you want to do. You don't want to get dicey like maybe we saw Cam Newton do one too many times, so Bryce is really improving, and also, he moved around a little bit more this week than he did against the Jets in week one, and it kind of opened things up for him a bit. He felt like he had a little more juice, and he had so much poise and command in the pocket. In week one too, but week two, he had it again, so something else that I thought was kind of interesting is it appeared that Frank Reich, the head coach, called plays offensively in the first half, and then the offensive coordinator, Thomas Brown, called them in the second half, and if you watch the game, the second half is where offensively things started to kind of get moving for the Panthers, at least to the point where they finally scored the first touchdown in the preseason.

And Reich was even talking about it today. He feels like his long-term goal is to kind of shift the play calling over to Thomas Brown, and he was talking like he already acts like he's very seasoned at this and like, okay, maybe this is something we could do. So I would like to see Thomas Brown call some plays for Bryce Young, like maybe in week three against the Lions at home on Friday, like maybe you could have Thomas Brown call the whole game or the first half when Bryce is in and see how that looks, like maybe some more pop happens, because to me it's like, okay, Bryce looked good in week one, he improved in week two, still didn't get into the end zone. If you get him, and it has been said, Frank Reich maybe an hour or so ago in a press conference said that Bryce will play in week three against the Lions.

After the game the other night in New York, he was like, all right, I'm not sure yet, we'll visit it at the time, Matt Rowe will go back and look at the tape, and all that type of deal. But he is going to play, and I think that's right, and Bryce wants to play. But how much are you willing to risk Bryce Young at this particular moment in time? So he's seeing very limited action, he's getting seven, under ten throws a game. He is the future of the Carolina Panthers. And how much are you willing to risk and put him out there in preseason knowing he is the face of the future? Yeah, I think he should just get a little bit more, because he played a little bit more, because he only played in the first quarter in week one, in week two he got into the second quarter. So there is that risk, and that's also why it was actually a topic of discussion today, is people were asking, have you thought about playing Bryce more? And they asked Bryce, do you want to be playing more? Frank, he's already very achieved, he's won a Heisman, he's won a national championship at Alabama. He's very mature and developed mentally, so he's kind of ahead of the game, which is why they want to get him out there and let him have a taste of it, but to your point, they're not going to risk anything. I don't know that I would.

Would you blame it all? I mean, you've got to give him some play, because you've got to let him see the speed of the game, because it is different from college to the NFL. Oh yeah, and he's figuring that out. You've got to see that, but how much am I willing to risk that, knowing that y'all went all in on this dude. That's right.

You went all in, so I think precautions have to be taken. Well, and when the offensive line, I don't know how much you've watched. And they've kind of sucked. The offensive line has been really bad.

He got sacked again. We'll get to the offensive line a little later on when we've got some more time to do so, but... That should be your concern. If you're a Panthers fan right now, the offensive line, which was a concern last year, the year before last, and the year before that... And the thing is, it got better last year. It got better. And in theory, they said it got better this time.

Right, and it probably will. They are missing a key guy on the right side, Austin Corbett. A big piece of it. Icky Iquanu has... Where is he? Do you know the Blink 180 team?

Where are you? Where is Icky? We're going to talk about that.

Frank Reich had some comments about Icky earlier today as well. We'll play those for you a little later on. We're going to be joined... So yeah, the Panthers are trending in the right direction.

Bryce is trending in the right direction. We'll kind of break down Friday's game along with other things even more so later in the show. I'm probably going to rant about the Yankees at some point.

In fact, I think I might do that in the next segment. Which is going to be fun because you're a Yankee fan. I am. And it ain't good. It's not. It's not good.

It's awful. Did you watch that game yesterday? I can't watch. You didn't watch it? I mean, as soon as I heard about the pitching injuries, I have not watched the game.

Yeah, it's getting bad. I mean, I haven't watched a game since Judge went down. Yeah, and I mean... Not one game. And that's been a while ago.

He's been back for a little while. I mean, it's just not good. It's not good. I mean, the Yankees are like, this is one of their worst seasons, statistically. The first losing season in 30 years. Yeah.

Yeah. 30 years. Think about that. They haven't been this low at this point in the year since 1995.

I wasn't born yet. Old man Hal is probably turning her in the grave right now. He probably is. So I think I'd like to put a pin in that and rant a little bit with my fellow Yankee fan, DJ. Because Josh gets to talk about his Orioles, because they're doing all this good stuff.

And they are. He gets to talk about his movies. Well, when I'm sitting in this chair, we might rant about the Yankees. Usually we're gonna gloat about them, but not so much these days.

Nope. We'll do that. Connor O'Neill's gonna come hang out third hour. Maybe Vashti Hurt from Carolina Blitz in the second hour, four o'clock hour.

So we'll get to that. But a Yankees rant, coming up on The Drive. Back on The Drive. On a Monday drive, you're listening to WSJS News Talk and Sports for the Triad. WD filling in, DJ Turner over there running the board, playing that jam.

Just the way we like it. So I teased this before we took the break. I gotta have a rant about the Yankees.

And they're in a bad spot right now, man. So they got swept again, this time by the Red Sox over the weekend. And the good news here, as I explained before the break, DJ Turner is a Yankee fan. So he can kind of chime in with me here. And of course, he hasn't even been watching. He can't even stand it. Nothing worse than losing to the Red Sox.

He can't stand it anymore. I mean, we got swept. Yeah.

We couldn't even win one. We got swept by everybody these days. That's kind of funny because... Braves? Yep.

That's it. Got swept by the Braves, got swept by the Red Sox, got beat three games to one by the O's. So yesterday's game, so clearly you didn't see it because you couldn't stomach it, I'm sure. So game three against the Red Sox, it's the eighth inning. They're tied 5-0. It looks like we might actually snap the losing streak. There's two outs.

It's the bottom of the eighth. Isaiah Kiner Falefa, however you say his name. I think of Falafel when I say his name. Falafel over at Cava. They don't sponsor this.

They could, though. So Vol pays up. He singles to right. And Rob Reffsnider for the Red Sox out there and left, he slips as he fields it. So the runner comes home from first. Reffsnider guns it home and the throw beats him by a mile. But they call him safe. So then they review it and they determine that he was not in fact blocking the plate and so then they called him out. They originally called him safe because they were calling him for blocking the plate and they ruled he wasn't.

So then Justin Turner singles. Top of the ninth we go, or in the top of the ninth he did that to make it a 6-5 game, Red Sox leading. So then you go to the bottom of the ninth. And you got Jansen closing out for the Sox. And Greg Allen hits one off the wall to lead off the inning for the Yankees.

Of course it goes off the wall. And it was in that right field corner that's like a little league park. The little porch. The little porch.

Oppo Taco. And it was the top of the wall too which makes it worse. So he doubles. LeMay Hughes gets hit by the pitch.

So you got runners on first and second. Judge strikes out looking. He can't stand it. Judge strikes out looking. Torres strikes out swinging. And then Ben Revett pinch hits in place of where I guess Giancarlo Stan was earlier in the game. I'm not sure why Stan wasn't in.

Besides the point. So Revett pinch hits. Flies out to right center. Red Sox sweep the Yankees. Second time they've done it this year. And the Yankees now have their first eight game losing streak in 28 years. It's so pathetic. And then meanwhile I have to sit up here and listen to John.

And listen. I don't mean to sound like a bitter Yankee fan because we have had a lot of success over the years. Not recently though. But we are bitter Yankee fans. That's how we are. Yeah. We expect perfection.

Yes. And we've gotten far from that since 2009. Like last handful of years like especially last year which is why like last year because one of our sales people, Sefton, he's a Yankee fan in the office. And like last year when the Yankees were like the most dominant team in the league in the regular season, he's like oh man this year. I'm like I don't care.

I don't care. Because the year before that they were pretty darn good in the regular season too. And they blew it in the playoffs. And they've blown it in the playoffs the last few years.

Handful of years. Probably since I was in, it's about the last five years or so they've been really good. Ever since they acquired Stanton and Judge started to become Judge. You thought okay this Yankees team might do something. And they always dominate and are really good or one of the best teams in the league in the regular season. Then they get to the playoffs and at some point they might win a series, maybe two, but they never quite get to that ALCS anymore.

It's always the divisional round that they blow it. And this year they just decided ah. We want the summer off. No, we want the fall off.

We don't want to play in October. That's right. So, yeah. That happened yesterday. And Aaron Boone's got to go, right?

He does. He's got to go, right? I wish I could say Cashman's going to go, but everything I read says like Cashman's not touchable.

Like he's not going anywhere. And we had our guy Darren Vaught on, voice of USA Baseball, host of the ACC Baseball etc. podcast. And he also seconded that because Josh asked about it. Because I told Josh. I was like Cashman ain't going anywhere.

It's not happening. And he asked Darren and Darren was like no he's not. So apparently, this was an interesting story. So, Aaron Boone apparently had to had a little meeting a closed-door meeting with Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner a few days ago. A closed-door meeting. They had to have a little chat. And apparently, Aaron Boone was quizzed by the manage or by Hal Steinbrenner or Cashman. And basically, the session prompted them to describe how he's feeling and he you know that he's frustrated. They're kind of it's almost like they're frustrated with each other at this point.

So, I don't know. It's just it's such a ugly situation with the Yankees right now. And I'm sure Josh is like oh yeah. Glabor Torres should have been traded this year. You think?

Why not? Hmm. I mean, he gets hot, then he's cold. Then he's hot, then he's cold. He's never predictable.

He's never consistent. The pitching staff. I've been saying for years. I don't care how good of offense you have. If you can't outscore every single team every single game, pitching has to come into play. And the pitching staff is awful.

It's a train wreck. Garrett Cole hasn't been what we what he was in Houston when he was pitching against us in the playoffs. So, I can just hear Josh now like, oh, you should be an Orioles fan, a Yankee fan. It's like, I still want him to do good. I'm sorry.

Like, what do you want? So, that's my Yankee rant for now. We may have another one later on the show. It's The Drive with Josh Graham, WSJS. Back at it on The Drive with Josh Graham. Vashti Hirt of Carolina Blitz going to join us here in about 10 minutes or so. But right now, I decided that I should kind of put my own spin on Graham's grades, which we usually do on Mondays. And so, I think I did that just fine.

And we'll do that here in just a second. Got to give a shout out to our people over at Crossroad Ford in Kernersville for sponsoring the show. And John and the gang over there, apparently they got a completely redesigned F-150.

No games or gimmicks or anything like that. And they've got the best selection, best prices in the triad on new Fords. Definitely go check them out. Crossroad Fords of Kernersville. That's right off of I-40 exit 203.

Crossroads Ford Kernersville dot com. And now, we get to Dalton's diagnosis. It's time for Dalton's diagnosis. That's right, Dalton's diagnosis. What have we done? It's the best. It's the worst.

It's the myth, as Josh calls it. And around here, we like to start on a high note early. So, we start with my putt-putt game at Academy Sports. So, over the weekend, you know, usually on the show we talk about what we did over the weekend.

I was out and about on Saturday and went and got a bite to eat. And I went over to Academy Sports, did a little looking around, and I saw they had a golf green over there. Where you could pick up some of the clubs and you could do a little putting. Well, it's an A, not because I'm trying to toot my own horn, but because I'm terrible at golf.

It ain't pretty. My putting not great at all. But I decided to play myself a little game of putt-putt right there in Academy Sports.

And it actually, I was actually kind of surprising myself on that one. Did you buy a putter? No. Okay. I don't, yeah. That was a one-time thing. You're not about that life. I'm not.

It was a one-time thing. I stopped while I was hot. B. C.J. Stroud. And the reason I feel like- C. In a minute it will be.

The reason I feel like C.J. Stroud was a B is just because, I mean, yeah, he didn't get into the end zone or anything like that. But, you know, people were coming at him pretty heavy after that week one game where he threw a pretty bad interception on his first drive. I mean, he telegraphed the pass.

It just, it wasn't good. And he really kind of stepped up and he looked a lot better. He looked a lot more polished.

He had good ball placement and, you know, 7 of 12. No turnovers, no touchdowns, but no turnovers either. So, I mean, again, it's preseason. So, you're just looking for glimpses. You're looking for, you know, it's small bite-sized chunks. And in his bite-sized chunk against the Dolphins, he looked pretty good.

C. The Carolina Panthers. It wasn't great. It wasn't bad. It definitely felt like it was better than week one. But, you know, you can say what you want about the offensive line.

But, you know, I'll take two sacks over five. So, and Bryce Young, he did a little bit more. He saw a little bit more action.

You know, obviously came out of the game at a certain point. Still hadn't gotten him into the end zone, but they got the ball down the field quite a bit. And when he started to move around quite a bit, things were starting to open up a little for him. And, you know, maybe let him move a little bit more. I'm not trying to say go all Cam Newton because that ain't Bryce's game. But, you know, he's mobile. Let him move around a little bit and kind of open things up. And I'd like to see him really, I think it'd be a great note to go off of in the preseason going into his first regular season to get into the end zone and then be out. I think that'd be great against the Lions on Friday night.

We will see. D. The voice of Mario stepping away. So, apparently, this came down earlier today. Charles Martinet, who's been the voice of Mario. It's a me, a Mario.

Terrible impression. He's been the voice for 25 years. And he's no longer going to be that iconic character's voice. Now, according to Nintendo, he, you know, again, he's voiced this thing since the 90s. He's Super Mario 64. All the Mario games. Now, he is going to be an ambassador, I think, for Nintendo in a lot of these games. But, I mean, the voice of Mario is iconic.

I don't know how much he used to play, like, vintage games or, like, Mario Kart back in the day or what, you know, Jackson or any of your grandkids or kids play, but what do they play? Any Mario? No, actually, they haven't been playing Mario. Really?

Yeah. Did you ever play Mario growing up? I didn't like it.

You didn't like it? Well, I guess maybe this isn't a D. I'm so sorry. This isn't a D for one, DJ Turner, but, I mean, the voice of Mario is iconic and, you know, I'll be curious to see what they do to replace it with AI and everything.

I'm sure they'll figure something out. F. The Yankees. There was no way that any, like, that was the first thing I put on my notes here was the Yankees. There was no way anything other than the Yankees was going to be on this list at number, or letter F. You know, the Red Sox swept them again, second time this year. The Yankees are below 500 at this late point in the year, right before the playoffs, for the first time since 1995. This is their first eight-game losing streak in 28 years.

Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner are having closed-door meetings, and it's just not been pretty, and heads are probably going to roll, and I'm guessing that's going to be Aaron Boone's. Not literally. That would be kind of drastic.

Very. That's been Dalton's Diagnosis. Coming up next, we're going to take a short break. The woman who we don't have on this show nearly enough, she covers our big four schools in the ACC, she covers the Carolina Panthers, all thing Carolina sports, Hornets, all of it. And Vashti Hurt, she runs Carolina Blitz, and she will be our guest next. Vashti Hurt of Carolina Blitz about to join us, I believe, right now. She's somebody we don't have on this show nearly enough. She runs Carolina Blitz, covering all things ACC, all things Carolina Panthers, all things Charlotte Hornets, Carolina sports in general, and she works probably harder than anybody I know on the beat. Vashti Hurt, welcome to the show. Hi, thanks for having me, Will.

Absolutely. It's a pleasure to get to talk to you, as always, and you know, I guess we'll just start in the most obvious place, like what was your in a nutshell takeaways after week two preseason against the Giants for the Panthers? You know, the offensive line still has some work to do. You know, Icky had a missed assignment that led to a pretty big sack on Bryce Young. Not anything that I'm really concerned about yet, but I do think that they, as an offensive line, they still have some jelling to do. Also, along the wide receiver front, there was a miscommunication issue between Bryce and Jonathan Mingo that would have resulted in the first down where they weren't able to. I think it looked like Mingo stopped on the route and Bryce is a ball kind of leading him and so little little things that they'll have to clean up defensively. It's really hard to get a good gauge because we haven't seen the first defense play yet and that that would be including Brian Burns and and and with Justin Houston and with Derek Brown in tandem. So you know, it's really hard to gauge the defense and how it will look. They did make a big transaction today by cutting Marquand McCall waving him.

He was not. He was penciled in as number one on the depth chart at that defensive tackle position. So who they'll fill in that role is yet to be seen. But yeah, it's just, you know, it's still the preseason. I think that fans kind of got out of control after that first game and have calmed themselves down and we'll see what the starting offense is able to do this Friday against Detroit. So you mentioned Icky and you know, he's been kind of off, I guess, here to start the preseason.

Do you have any idea why that, you know, why that might be like what feels different? You know, James Camp and the offensive line coach and Frank Wright don't seem to be concerned about it. They say it's just communication issues, if you remember. And you know, the Giants defensive line, they're no slouch and neither are the Jets. So those are two very good defensive fronts that they went up against in practice that did not look, it didn't look, you know, that offensive, the Panthers offensive line and the joint practices against the Jets were pretty dominant. I just think it's just communication issues still getting used to the O line trying to figure out they have not filled in that right guard position yet. So they're still getting chemistry together, which is really one of the most important things when you're talking about an offensive line. And I think that they're working on jelling. I don't, you know, some people are saying, Oh, is it a sophomore slump?

I don't, it's way too early to start guessing that. But Icky is a smart player and a talented player. And so he took complete ownership of the, of the, of the sacks that he's given up on Bryce.

He knows what he needs to do. And I expect that he'll fix that along with, along with the coaching staff. Well, and one thing that I thought about in regards to Icky is, and I don't think it's talked about a lot, is the Steve Wilkes, the small Steve Wilkes era that we had of the Panthers. And they kind of ran more of a stronger run game. They were more run heavy. And isn't run game blocking a lot different than pass game blocking?

And could that kind of be affecting just Icky's trying to figure out some new things now that, you know, Frank Reich's in the house? Well, Icky performed decently in both run and pass blocking last year. And this offense will be a run first offense as well. I do think that, you know, in the preseason, they are allowing, they may be throwing more. And I don't even think Bryce has really thrown that much. And the first team offense has played maybe between 25 and 29 snaps.

So that is a very small sample size. I think that he's comfortable either way. Of course, historically, he's excelled at run blocking. But last year, he kind of settled into that pass blocking role as well. I just think they're just small little nuances that he has to get together.

More communication, like I mentioned before, than anything. I do think he's comfortable with both pass blocking teams. So I know some questions were kind of asked about it today to both Frank Reich and Bryce Young. Do you feel that Bryce Young has played enough in the preseason, just the right amount? Or maybe do you think he should get a little bit more time just, you know, because this is a different beast in the NFL, as strong as the SEC is?

Like what's your kind of gauge on that? I think he's played enough. You know, you're not going to have your starting quarterback out there for a full game or even three quarters in a preseason matchup and risk potential injury before the season starts. Depending on how the series have gone, he's played three series in each game so far.

I think maybe he'll play a half, maybe closer to a half this Friday against Detroit. But so far, you know, I think it's the right amount of playing time, especially given how he's looked. He hasn't looked bad at all. He hasn't made a mistake.

All of the things, pardon? He hasn't made a mistake. Like, you know, CJ Stroud, he's had a pick, Richardson, he's had a pick. Like he hasn't made that mistake, hasn't had that turnover.

Right. All of the things that we've heard about him from coaches and, you know, all of the positives as to why they drafted him number one overall has translated so far as a rookie. And as you mentioned, he hasn't made a mistake. So I think that, you know, I'm going to, they have a coaching staff with a lot more experience than I do. And they have a plan and they've been going according to plan this whole time. And I think that he'll get more playing time than people expect against the Lions.

But so far, it's been the right amount. Vashti Hurt with us here from Carolina Blitz. Now we've got one more preseason game to go against the Lions Friday night. What is something or maybe even a few things on the top of your mind that you want to see from the Panthers in this final preseason game before we get this show on the road? I think it's important for that first team offense to put together a touchdown drive. Yes, they are without their RB1 in Miles Sanders. However, for even Bryce and his confidence and just seeing that ball go in the end zone, I think it's important for them to, you know, they built on that, that disappointing performance against the Jets. They got into field goal range, albeit it was, they got a lot of help from, from some penalties, defensive penalties by the Jets. But I think offensively for a young quarterback, it's, it's going to be important for him to see the ball in the end zone and for the offense to be able to put together a touchdown drive defensively, I still think that they struggled a bit on third down and I'd like to see that defense really hunker down and, and get stops on third down, not give up those third and long plays. It's important to mention they're really not scheming.

They're very vanilla. They're not showing their hands, but they are doing, they should do enough in order to show, show promise heading into, into the season. So they've got to fix those third down issues. So how, how impressed were you with Thomas Brown's play calling?

Because I think I understand it right. Frank Wright called in the first half and Thomas Brown, the OC in the second half. What did you, like, was there any nuances you saw, like they were different, maybe one better than the other? Like, how did that look? It really looked pretty much the same to me.

I mean, I think it's important to, to note that there were different personnel in there. So Thomas Brown was calling plays for Matt Corral, the second and third team offense. I do think we saw a couple of more downfield shots. Jake Lutton had a, a good drive, a touchdown drive there.

I believe it was late third, maybe fourth quarter. So I don't really see a major difference. They're calling from the same playbook. And so, and, and again, they're not going to really show any type of schemes. You're not going to see any type of fireworks. They're not going to show anything that may be able to be used against them in the first game of the season, especially when they open up against two divisional opponents.

I didn't see a difference. And for a, for a first year play caller, which, you know, Thomas Brown will, is, is, is transitioning into, I think that's a good thing. And lastly, on the way out, you know, it is week zero, like we're going to have a college football game every Saturday for the rest of the year, starting this week. And as somebody who covers the ACC very closely around these parts, what's the one thing that has you the most intrigued, the most fascinated about this coming ACC football season? I'm really curious about the Tar Heels and what they're going to do, what's going to happen with that Tez Walker situation. The NCAA still has not come up with a decision, so it's kind of like they're operating with a guy who is, was coming into the season as probably their wide receiver one. And he's still practicing, but you don't know whether he'll be available for games and they open up against, you know, South Carolina in Charlotte, a big ACC versus SEC matchup.

So I'm really eyeing that because I think that that decision will have a huge impact on that Tar Heel team. With Ashty Hurt of Carolina Blitz, thank you so much for joining the show. All right. Thanks for having me. Ding, ding boys.

School's in session. Let's go, man. You're on the drive with Josh Graham. Well, look who showed up. It was like he heard me or something. He said he might be listening to us right this very minute.

I was in fact, listening to you right that very minute. I had a feeling, Connor. I had a feeling Connor O'Neill is with us here.

He's the publisher of Deacons and Devils Illustrated, and apparently he's just come from Wake Forest practice. Yeah. That's why the timing is, uh, always a little funky because you never know if it's going to be a hour and a half practice or a two plus hour practice. They started at three today. The other part you don't know is maybe the player requests, uh, wants to get some extra work on the side and you're kind of standing there on the sideline for like 15 minutes and every other player gets done and gets off the field, but you're still waiting for that guy. Uh, I had some luck with, with Taylor Morin was the guy that I asked for to talk to today and he was pretty expedient.

So it would get over here earlier than I thought I would. Okay. So what's, what's the latest on Wake where the, I mean this, cause this was the last practice, right? So they're... Yep. Last practice that media can go to. Uh, I think they have tomorrow, it's, I got corrected on this by Justin Sternad a few years back. They never have an off day in fall camp. There's never an off day.

They always have meetings. They just don't have practice, so they don't have practice tomorrow. They're doing something.

They're doing stuff, just not practicing. And then Wednesday is when the install starts going in for the mighty Elon Phoenix. I believe West Durham is still in the listening area and so he'd be, he'd be miffed at me if I didn't say mighty Elon. Oh yeah. But um... Gotta get it right for our guy. You know, Wake looks decent. I have some questions about their defense.

Um, I think Mitch Griffiths is going to do really well at quarterback. I think their offense is still going to score points in bunches against just about everybody they play. Um, it's a matter of what is their defense going to look like? Is it going to be marginally better than last year? Are they going to force turnovers?

Because last year there was a stretch where they, I think, didn't have an interception for half the season just about. Um, you know, and honestly, their schedule is very much waking me up when September ends. I don't know if you're a Green Day fan or not. I know some of their stuff.

I don't know if I know that reference. I figured bringing in a music reference. DJ don't know September?

Really? DJ gets it. Oh my goodness. I figured bringing a music reference would be better than a movie reference. You know what it is? It's like, I'm one of those people where if you tell me like the name of the song, I'll be like, uh, but then when you play the song, oh, I know what that is. Yeah.

Well, the name of the song is literally Wake Me Up When September Ends. You got that right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. So my point there is Wake's first four games, they should be 4-0, at worst 3-1, then it gets a lot harder. Then they go to Clemson, then they go to Virginia Tech, then they close October with games against, oh gosh, Pitt and Florida State, I believe. Okay. Good testing in Florida State.

Yeah. I mean, it does not line up favorably over the last two thirds of the year. So this is going to be an interesting season for Wake. Now, are you, because Josh has got questions about Florida State, where do you lean on that? I know Josh has questions about Florida State.

Because a lot of credible people are like, actually, they're going to be really good. I mean, the guy picks Pitt and Carolina to win the division, and he thinks he knows everything, right? Of course he does.

Yes. Your guys' O's just happen to be winning a lot, and he thinks he's at the lottery. Meanwhile, the Yankees are not in a good spot.

Oh, man. I watched some of the Yankees game yesterday. Did you see that? Yeah, it was bad. Did you watch the end of it? I did. Eighth inning, that call got overturned, and then- The play with it had two reviews? Two reviews of the same freaking play? Oh, yeah. Do you think we need to be doing this in pro sports?

Any sports? I mean, the question was, was he blocking the plate, right? Yeah, which I thought he was, and that was the part that they didn't overturn.

The ball clearly beat the guy there. By a mile. Yeah. Imagine the Yankees not getting a break. I've gotten the kick out of everybody throwing out these obscure stats. It's their longest losing streak since 1995. Oh, yeah.

I've been throwing those out all day. They're below 500 this late in the season for the last time they were at this point was when Derek Jeter got called up and all this stuff. And I look at it like an Orioles fan, and I'm saying, man, I would have possibly committed homicide to have that kind of stability. I wish we had the, whoa, thing.

I wish I had that. That's why I kind of felt a little guilty. I had a little bit of a Yankees vent session today just because it's like... And I told him, I told DJ, I was like, I felt kind of bad about it because I could just hear and see Josh in my mind like, I would love to be that. You know what it's been like to be an Orioles fan? I'm like, I still want my team to do good. All these, all of the since 1995 stats, I sit here and I'm like, the Orioles have gone through a half dozen tear it down rebuild phases since then. They have. That's why I felt a little bit guilty about bringing it up, but no.

No, sorry. Back to Florida State, I picked Florida State to win the league. I am a believer in, it's not just, we get so caught up in, and we're coming to the end, thank God, of summer football and all the summer football talking points when everybody just thinks you play seven on seven and it's all about who has the best quarterback. Mike Norvell has done a great job at revamping that roster. They've got depth and their defense is going to be nasty.

And they did a lot of good things last year. Like you could see it coming. And so I feel like the hype or whatever you want to call it is slightly warranted. I don't think it's going like, I think it's kind of warranted, like it's coming. It's warranted.

It's it. And, and I think it's an appropriate measure when you consider nobody's not the, not the majority that I've seen have them going undefeated and then the CFP now, like it's just, you know, Florida State can win the ACC and then we'll see if they have beaten Clemson twice. Yeah.

Because you figure that's, you figure that's what it's going to do. Yeah. And it's at Clemson. So if they beat Clemson twice and run the table there, yeah, they're a CFP team without knowing how any of the rest of it shakes out. You know, I'm sure Greg Sankey will want the third SEC team in there, but whatever. But yeah, I am a Florida State believer. I went in, I've been saying, I, I, I felt like I was pretty early on the train of, you know, when, when things first started going downhill and everybody wanted to make every July, like, oh, Florida State's going to be back this year. I was like, don't we need to see it first? Do they really get the benefit of the doubt here? I think they do now.