Flash Mob

We've made it to a Friday drive.

It is WSJS news talk sports for the triad. It's a football Friday. Obviously, you've got high school tonight, plus Panthers preseason. Oh, and it's the eve of week zero in college football. Plus, it's a Rhinestone Cowboy Friday as well.

So fun is going to be had all throughout today's show. But before we get into all those things I just mentioned, there's a story we need to hit on. Pete Thamel writes that according to scouts, both Caleb Williams and Drake May would have been taken number one overall over Bryce Young if they were eligible this year. And that's just absurd. Now, for those who don't know, Pete Thamel is the preeminent reporter in college sports right now. He's college football woge. That's why earlier this summer, he was in Winston-Salem being recognized as the NSMA's national sports writer of the year.

In order to receive an honor like that, you have to be pretty well connected. So when he writes a story, letting scouts speak anonymously about Caleb and about Drake, his draft prospects going into the college football season, you should take it seriously. It's worth paying attention to. However, some of the comments in this story prove that scouts are human too. And in fact, just like fans, scouts can be tantalized by the unknown.

This is an excerpt from the story. The best indicator of the talent of Caleb Williams and Drake May is that multiple scouts said they would have picked both of them number one this year ahead of the class that included Young, Stroud, and Anthony Richardson. Another scout said, whoever had the number one pick, I think they'd take Caleb Williams.

No matter who you are, I don't know who won it. Take him. Close quote. This happens almost every year. You have the less proven future quarterback, the quarterback of the future, being valued more than the guy who's been scrutinized for months into the dirt, the guy who just went number one, who was set to be number one.

Like, let's look at some of the examples. 2019. There was this thought that Justin Herbert made a mistake for going back to Oregon because he would have been the number one pick in the draft. No, he wouldn't have. Tyler Murray was taken number one and you have Cliff Kingsbury out there before he's even an NFL coach saying that if he had the number one pick, the guy he's taken is the quarterback out of Oklahoma, the Heisman Trophy winner. So, Kyler would have been taken by Cliff over Justin Herbert.

2020. We heard Trevor Lawrence, if he were in this draft, he'd go number one. Over Joe Burrow?

Absolutely not. Joe Burrow just beat Trevor Lawrence at that point in a national title game, just had the best season we've ever seen a college quarterback have, you could argue. That guy's going to be taken over Trevor Lawrence. That's just how this works.

And now we're seeing the same garbage espoused again. Even if Drake and Caleb were both eligible this year, Carolina Panthers still would have taken Bryce Young number one. And here's why. Well, let's address this individually with the players. Let's start with Caleb Williams. Like Bryce, he's prototypically undersized. Now, Caleb is believed to be around six foot, which is a little taller than Bryce, but it's comparable.

It's not like Drake May, who towers over Bryce, six four versus five foot ten. But the biggest problem with Caleb, what's the biggest game he played in? The Pac-12 championship?

Okay, how'd that go? Well, they lost to Utah, but he played in a big bowl game though. He played, they were ranked top ten in the country. He played in the Cotton Bowl.

That's a pretty big stage too. How'd that go? They lost to Tulane. And I know I can already feel the pushback of, oh, but the defense was really bad.

Okay. Caleb Williams had some bad games. You look at the numbers, you're like, all right, well, whether it be at Oklahoma or at USC, he had some stinkers. Bryce Young never had a bad game in Alabama.

Never. Aside from the one where he got hurt with his shoulder in the first quarter, I believe against Texas A&M. Bryce Young, every time he stepped on the field was really good.

Like, well, let's look at the losses this past year. Lost to Tennessee in Knoxville. He put up 49 points with five touchdown passes in the game. He was the best quarterback on the field, even better than the Triad's own Hennen Hooker. The other loss that they had was to LSU.

And how'd that end? Overtime with Brian Kelly choosing to go for two so that Bryce didn't get the ball back because that's how good he was. Those are the down games for Bryce. So Caleb Williams, even though he won a Heisman trophy just like Bryce Young did, he had bad losses and no great wins. And he was in the Pac-12.

Bryce Young did this in the SEC. As for Drake, the sample size is too small. If he was in last year's draft, this past draft cycle, what would have separated him from even Anthony Richardson? Many of the things people liked about Richardson are the same things that people were saying about Caleb.

Oh, or excuse me, about Drake. You're talking about a guy that has this great physical skill set. All the tools.

It's just raw. Small sample size. Only playing one year.

Right? And the knocks on Anthony Richardson. You had bad losses and no great wins. You lost to Vanderbilt. Drake May did not have good numbers, did not really do a lot his final month of the season, and had a loss at home to a third string quarterback at Georgia Tech. And then a week later lost to NC State's third string quarterback.

These are things that happened. And they are marks against Drake May, who would also get dinged for playing in the ACC versus, again, Bryce, doing what he did at Alabama, and doing it multiple years, and winning a Heisman, and winning an SEC championship, and going to the playoff. I really don't even see the case for Drake May over Bryce Young.

In fact, this might even get, you know, this might, you might think this is too far if you're with me at this point. I don't even know if Drake May or Caleb Williams this year go higher than C.J. Stroud. Because what data point for Caleb Williams or Drake May would you say was better than what C.J. did in his lasting impression against a Georgia defense that's one of the best we've ever seen in the college football playoff? He put Ohio State in position to win that game. Even when Marvin Harrison went down, he still moved the ball and put them in a position where if the former North Carolina kicker, Ruckles, hits the kick, then Ohio State eliminates Georgia.

And who knows, maybe Ohio State wins a national title. Neither Drake May nor Caleb Williams would have been taken number one over Bryce Young. The reason why this is discussed is the same reason all those past guys were discussed.

Because the unknown, the mystery box, is more tantalizing and more fascinating than what you already know. The guy who's in the present that's been broken down and scrutinized for months on end. On Twitter at WSGS Radio if you want in. Will Dalton is out one more time. He'll be back on Monday.

D.J. Turner in all week is the producer of this show. D.J., thanks for pitch hitting this week. I really do appreciate you doing that, my friend. It's been my pleasure.

The producer of the show taking your calls at 336-777-1600. And again, streaming video on Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch. As we mentioned earlier, Carolina Panthers are in action tonight and it feels like they're do something fun and positive. Or at least we can hope because none of us have seen the progress that Frank Reich and others have described. We kind of have to just take the reporters who are on site, take their word for granted, take some of the players for granted, what Frank Reich has said. It's been two lukewarm preseason games.

The Panthers put out their Camp Confidential second episode from the Jets scrimmage out today. Listen to the way Hayden Hurst was describing some of the things Bryce Young was doing to a Jet on the other side of the ball. He'll make some throws.

Like yesterday he was in practice. Full speed running. Jump, set his feet, and throw a dig going that way.

On the money. We like replayed it. We were like, what the f*** was that? He was running big right. Like a shortstop. He'll throw balls to me like in zones where I'm like, I'll come out of my break and it's like, boom. Okay, kid sees it. He's gonna be good, man.

He'll be a stud. I want to see that though. Like, we want to see it in these preseason games. This is the dress rehearsal.

This is it. It's at home too. Make the home fans happy. Because after tonight, there is no fourth preseason game anymore. It's the next game after tonight is the opener in Atlanta and that's 16 days away. So let's leave the home fans and everybody watching with an impression that, hey, what they're saying is true.

Wow, this guy really is standing out. This offense really is going to be improved. How do I define fun?

How do I define positive? How about the starters leading a touchdown drive? We might even see him for a half.

That'd be a good starting place. Get into the end zone tonight. The starters.

Make that happen. I guess it was progress last week that they got a field goal. Maybe get into the end zone this time. Seven o'clock kick. The last preseason game, the Panthers, it feels like.

I can feel it or do something fun and positive. The Drive with Josh Graham only on WSJS. Complete disaster. And listen, everybody in the industry has to take responsibility here.

I'm not scooting myself. The voice of our high school football game of the week is Dave Pulaski, who joins us in studio each Friday. Tonight, 730 with a seven o'clock pregame start on WSJS is Southeast Guilford Dudley. Dave, you've got to get out the door in just a bit. But what appealed to you most about this matchup for week two?

Numerous things. I mean, it's been a great rivalry over the last several years. Dudley and Southeast Guilford having met both in the playoffs in 2017 and 2018.

And it's been an even series in these last six matchups between the two. Southeast and Dudley have played to a 3-3 tie in terms of the games played. Southeast got an upset win over Dudley, 23-7 at Dudley at Tarpley Stadium last year, knocking off the defending state champions. Looking backward really quickly, were there any surprises that stood out to you to start the year? Week one coaches at all levels, high school, college, pro, they often say week one is what we worry the most about because it's the week where most things are uncertain.

What stood out to you, if anything? I think the only real surprise that kind of stood out to me was Northwest Guilford losing to Burlington Williams in week one. That was a 39-34 game. It was the new head coach in place for the Vikings now with Kevin Wallace having gone over to West Forsyth. And just a little bit of an adjustment period because they have their returning quarterback in Tanner Ballou who's a Division 1 talent, a Division 1 Power 5 wide receiver talent in Trenton Cloud. He was held at just 79 yards receiving against Williams last week. But that's just a matter of getting things together, getting things to gel, working under the new coaches system.

And I would expect the Vikings to be right in contention moving forward into September. Dave Pulaski's at studio with us. He broadcasts games with Drew Brackett and has been doing so for several seasons on WSJS. But do I have it right? See, DJ Turner, he's producing in the place of Will Dalton, who will be back on Monday in the producer's chair.

Didn't you guys used to do games together? Do I have that right, DJ? That is correct. OK, so how many broadcast partners have you had on WSJS through the years? Because since I've been here, it's been Drew. Are we counting the fill-ins or are we just going? Oh, no, I mean, yeah, I wouldn't count the fill-ins.

Not counting the fill-ins, too. OK. DJ and Drew. DJ is with me for the first year and for whatever reason, he got sick of me.

Well, I mean, there are plenty of reasons for him to get sick of me, but did I hit on a sore spot, DJ? This is some awkward tension here doing games with Dave. That's a good answer. Just want to make sure that everything's cool.

Everything's kosher. I'm self-deprecating. That's just me. You work at IMG in downtown Winston-Salem, too.

A lot of people ask me about this because I don't think most people understand what exactly that is. For people who don't know, you guys broadcast out of that building games for most of the schools in high major college athletics. And that includes the West Coast schools. So, Stanford and Cal, if they join the ACC, that's no big deal for the folks out east here, the folks here in Winston-Salem. That's no big deal if they join the ACC, right? Well, if somebody ends up being a studio host for a West Coast school, and by the way, I am a studio host for a West Coast school. UCLA, right? Yeah, for UCLA. So, when we open up the season against Coastal Carolina in about a week and a half, I'll be on the air at 9 p.m. Eastern for the pregame show.

Kick off at 1030 and I'll get home at about 3.30 in the morning. That's such a good example. I don't think people know exactly. They might see the building in downtown Winston and think, oh yeah, they might do sports stuff there and things. If you're in Los Angeles and you're listening to UCLA football or basketball, yes, it's broadcast on the radio station out there, but the broadcast originates from here. That's right. The person who's running the UCLA football and basketball broadcast is Dave Pulaski in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

I don't think most people get that. And Radio Magic, I make it sound like I'm in LA. I'm having game times in Pacific time. The weather is so great out here. I've at least had the advantage of having lived in California before as well. Just had my In-N-Out.

I have it animal style. I know about the five freeway. I know about taking the 210 into Pasadena to the Rose Bowl.

So, I know these things so I can give a little bit more detail than say somebody else who is just pulling it out of their hat. No, it's fantastic. So, then Stanford and Cal join and the folks in downtown Winston are like, no big deal. We deal with those time zones anyway out this way. How much of week zero do you plan to watch tomorrow? Oh, I'll get in a few games here and there. I mean, my alma mater is playing. So, Ohio is playing at San Diego State.

Go Bobcats. Yeah, I'll be locked in for that game. I'll probably tune into a couple games here and there just to kind of get a lay of the land for college football this season.

That game was a stay away for me. We've got four bets on the line here. So, I'll be watching a lot more than I probably should. Obviously, the two programs that attract the most attention USC face in San Diego State. We're not San Diego State, San Jose State and Notre Dame facing Navy out in Ireland.

Keep an eye on those programs. The Sam Hartman tie, Lincoln Riley. You get to watch Caleb Williams. See, I'm kind of disconnected emotionally when it comes to watching college football.

I don't really have a dog in the fight. However, I will say this. It would be awesome to see the ACC back in the college football playoff. And how cool would it be if the Pac-12 this year were to do the same? But what are you most rooting for this college football season? Well, I think that would be pretty cool. I mean, having that little last spiteful run before everything breaks up and goes into chaos.

I mean, it's already in chaos, but. I don't think it's USC robust either. I don't like Oregon State's fascinating. That was a real quarterback battle with Sean Mannion and D.J.

Uwe Young of the lay that D.J. ended up winning the former Clemson quarterback. People think that they can win the week, which would be amazing. That would be if you want to talk about the coolest possible thing that could happen in college football this year, it's Oregon State winning the Pac-12 and making a path to the college football playoff.

And don't tell me it's impossible. TCU was unranked last year and made it to the playoff and to the national title game, because what would make it so cool about Oregon State is they're one of the two teams that were that nobody wanted. Hey, you're one of the two left that nobody wants, not even the ACC of what they're considering right now. That would be the coolest possible thing to root for. That actually happened in minor league baseball a few years ago out in California, ironically, went out the year after I was in the California League, the high desert Mavericks, who later became the Down East Wood Ducks in their last season. They were in the middle of a lawsuit with the city of Atalanta over ballpark rent payments.

They were a lame duck team and they went out and they won the Cal League in their last year before moving. So, I mean, I think it would be fantastic if something like that would happen just from a neutral perspective. Obviously speaking, you know, as a representative of UCLA, I think it would be cool for us to go on a nice little run and get into the playoff as well.

But, you know, we'll see. Dave Pulaski in studio with us. There is no beef between DJ and between Dave Pulaski, but there is some other tension that needs to be discussed here. We talked about how cool Dave Pulaski's t-shirt was last week. We might have picked fun at him a little bit for the t-shirt that he wore prior to going out.

So what does he bring in here when he comes back? Oh, here's a 69 Mets t-shirt to combat your Orioles gear, Josh. 69 Mets, amazing Mets.

That's how cool you wear an Orioles shirt. I know. I'm so happy. I wish this was planned. I wish I really knew. I know what you were doing. I wish I knew what I was doing. It's been a busy day. I've been writing my pregame script. I just grabbed a shirt, man. I know what you were doing. This guy drives to New York more than I go home. I just know what you're doing.

I haven't done fun stuff up there. That's been a lot of housecleaning. Just just just know Pulaski that I know what you're doing and I know what you're doing tonight. 730. My mom was at the 69 World Series, by the way. Game three. I don't care at Shea. Frankly, a house full of Yankee fans. She was the only Met fan.

She was the renegade. Yeah. I kind of root for the rest of your family, even though they're Yankee fans in this instance.

Really? Well, you know, just the way the way that the way that World Series turned out, it's my entire life. It's I wasn't even alive for it. And they're like, oh, oh, Orioles. I'm a Met fan. 1969. It's like Dave Claus.

And when I run into him, huge Pittsburgh Pirate fan. Oh, remember when we came back? Three one. No, Dave, I wasn't alive.

The Daves in my life. Well, you're living in the present right now. I'm living in the past because you guys are. You said that to me earlier. And again, it I didn't process it.

I didn't receive it because it didn't make sense just to hear those words said to me about the Orioles. You're right. You're often right. You're mostly right. You're always right.

But but still, it it still didn't register what you were saying. I'm just going to let you go and enjoy your broadcast tonight. Seven thirty kickoff time. Seven o'clock pregame on WSJS at Southeast Kilford and Dudley.

You need to go get set up out in Guilford County, my friend. What what church I wear next week just to rankle you. I'll let you think about that. We'll come up with that. You know, don't bring any of that Islander gear in here. Just all there. I'll let you borrow one of my Yankee shirts. Is that OK?

I don't think he's going to want that. Right. All rise. My judge. All rise.

Mom might disown me for that. This is it. Ready? All right. All right. Do it.

Do it. All right. Listen up.

It's The Drive with Josh Graham. B Dot, the sixth bantario basketball will be here 15 minutes from now. You'll take us to grammar school. I feel badly with Panthers Lions tonight. Looking at some of the things that we're excited about. I thought that that a flash mob was about to happen there, that B Dot actually got here early and that you and him were about to do like the the arms thing and surprise me.

Got a little scared there for a second with that Michael Jackson job. But I feel badly because usually we like to give defense and special teams a little bit of love here when talking about preseason. However, all the obvious things to watch for tonight are on the offensive side of the ball for the Panthers.

It starts with Bryce Young. Every snap is going to be dissected every throw. Everybody's going to be paying attention to what he does, kind of like with Anthony Richardson last night.

And here's the thing. One touchdown drive. That would be nice. First drive, get into the end zone and then get him the bleep out of there.

That's what I want to see. And then the O line is a clear number two storyline in this. In both games, Bryce was blistered. Every throw he's getting slammed, even when the plays don't count. Like the one where he fell down and then was throwing it to Adam Thewin down the field on what was an offside penalty or the throw to Hayden Hurst right sideline.

That was really good. But a holding call pushed it back. Kayvon Thibodeau slammed Bryce Young on that play.

How about not have your franchise quarterback get blistered, get blasted again tonight? But it will be interesting to follow who's going to start at right guard for the Panthers. Tonight, we know it's going to be Chandler Zavala, the fourth round pick out of NC State. You got Iki Iquanu playing at left tackle.

So a couple of members of the Wolf Pack, hashtag pack pros, are going to be starting there. And it's fair to say at this point in the game that if Zavala is starting for back to back weeks there, it's likely he's going to start the regular season as Austin Corbett tries to make his way back from an injury. They hope he could be back in September. The D.O.

line is going to be worth following. And because of the events of this week, receivers become a compelling story. No G.J. Chark because he's dealing with a hamstring. No Terrace Marshall Jr. again who's been dealing with a back. No Laviska Chennault who has, you know, been dealing with a concussion. He entered the protocol earlier this week.

No Demir Bird who's been put on I.R. Who's going to be catching passes tonight? I get it, you have a 90-man roster but do you have more than five receivers that you're dressing tonight?

We don't know. We'll see what you got. Come on down J. Von Wins. Come on down Shy Smith. Come on down C.J. Saunders.

We'll see what they do and perhaps we'll see some more targets to the tight end. Hayden Hurst. Tommy Trimble. Gio Ritchie. Maybe even, we'll see.

Ian Thomas. Those are the obvious things to watch for tonight. Week zero of college football is upon us. Tomorrow you'll see Notre Dame in action, USC in action. Eight days from now, college game day is going to return. And they're going to be in Charlotte ahead of North Carolina, South Carolina.

W.D. and I will both be at that game. But given all the changes in college football, it's only fitting that college game day changes too.

And we learned of a pretty big change last night. There's going to be a new intro song for college game day. No more coming to your city by Big and Rich. After 17 years, there will be a new intro song.

It will not be coming to your city. But don't just take it from me. Here were the guys themselves telling us on social media that, hey, there's going to be a new artist recording the intro. It's been a great 16 years being the voices of the college game day open. And now we're excited to officially pass the torch to these extremely talented artists. We can't say who just yet.

But tune in to ESPN on Saturday, September 2nd at 9 a.m. to find out. I know people don't like change, but it was time to get a new song in there because over the years they've tried to add to the song and do some different stuff with it. And it got to the point where I couldn't understand certain points of the song. Like give me like a little bit of the part where you have like I don't even think this is cowboy Troy. We got like a rap interlude with some female vocalists with a guitar and blond hair singing. And it's just not good.

We do we need all that? 17 years. That's a long time. Maybe we could do something a little bit different.

So what do you do now? I think there's been quite a resurgence in country music in recent years. And there are three names that really stand out. That would be a good fit for this. And it sounds like since they said artists plural, maybe you get a couple of these guys involved. I'm thinking Luke Combs. I'm thinking Eric Church.

I'm thinking Morgan Wallen. There's some other big female vocalists or female artists that are fantastic. I don't know if I think college football when I think of Kacey Musgraves, but maybe her?

I don't know. Like Lainey Wilson is a huge deal, especially after Yellowstone right now. Get her involved in the fray. But what I really like about Luke Combs, Eric Church, and Morgan Wallen is they're huge college football fans. Morgan Wallen loves his Tennessee Volunteers. Luke Combs loves his App State Mountaineers. And you got Eric Church who loves his Tar Heels, even though he went to App State. And Luke Combs is still a UNC basketball fan.

We've come to learn. So my guess, hey, two of those guys, Luke Combs, Eric Church would be good fits as the guest picker next week. How about unroll the new intro and get one of those two guys involved in that intro and maybe have them pick some games in Charlotte when they're there next week.

But it does seem like the show is going to change quite a bit. But no more Chris Felica. The bear left to Fox Sports. He's going to be replaced by Stanford Steve, who he used to do a podcast with. You might know him from the SVP SportsCenter show. You have no more David Pollock. He was laid off a month ago with those big layoffs that ESPN had.

This is likely the last year for Lee Corso. At least you would think with 88, he had a stroke a dozen years ago. He struggles to speak sometimes, even though he gave a tremendous speech at the NSMA Hall of Fame banquet when he was inducted earlier this summer in Winston-Salem. Just seeing the reverence that everybody has for that guy. Like I saw Bill Raftery walk up to him and say, Coach, Bill Raftery, so nice to meet you.

I just want to tell you how big of a fan I am. That's Bill Raftery introducing himself to somebody. That's how Lee Corso, how much he's thought of. But with all the conferences changing and the format of the playoff changing next year, I think it's fair to say this might be it for Lee Corso.

What's going to happen after that? It's probably going to become a Pat McAfee vehicle if it isn't already that. We said it long before it was popular to do so, to the point where we got aggregated by some of the sports media reporters that, hey, Pat McAfee would be a great idea for this show. Personality-wise, it's a great fit. It is.

Jumping into water and having fun. The NFL takes itself too seriously. So you're never going to do something like that for the NFL, but for college, being around college students and going to campuses and stuff, Pat McAfee is just perfect for it. And that's why you're just only going to see his role escalate and climb with the show. And I feel it's this show and it's inside the NBA that are the two best studio shows in all of sports.

And it's not close. I don't even know what number three would be. It's Chuck, Kenny, Shaq and Ernie, what they do on the NBA. And then it's this show like College Game Day with Lee Corso putting on the head and Pat McAfee doing his thing and Kirk Herb Street, or as my wife calls him, Kirk Herb Street. It's one of the best shows on television. I agree. I love the NBA show.

Yes, I love them both. I mean, Shaq is so entertaining. Charles Barkley is entertaining the rocket.

He's you know, it's all good. There aren't many studio shows that are on linear television anymore that matter like that. When you say something on these shows, it has an impact. When that show criticized Miami's lack of lack of funding, athletics and football, not investing enough.

That led to Manny Diaz being bought out and them investing and luring Mario Cristobal away from Oregon to Miami. That's something that happened. Like when they say things on that show, it's impactful.

It matters. Just like inside the NBA. When those guys say things, it gets back to the players and people react. And there aren't any other shows. There aren't other shows like that. But given all the changes to college football, once again, only fitting that college game day changes to flash mob, flash mob. Here they come.