Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: The following program is brought to you in living color on dailyGazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
The Daily Gazette Company presents the Parting Shots podcast. Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott. Thank you, Scott Kesey, and welcome to the Parting Shots podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me, parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York, as we begin our trek to 500 episodes of the Parting Shots podcast. This is episode number 401. I don't want to be doing this throughout the runs of 500, but I felt we just got did our 400th last week. So I'll celebrate a little bit more with 401, but we'll have a great show for you. Last Wednesday, the Union men's hockey team opened practice for the 2024 25 season, the final season of Kyle Chockey at Mesarink. And barring any unforeseen circumstances, this is the final first practice of Messerink for the union. Garnet charges had a chance to get over there last Wednesday to talk with several members of the team, head coach Josh Halge, senior defenseman Cullen Ferguson, junior defenseman John Prokop and senior forward Kaden Viegas. They'll talk about what it's like to get ready for the season, how excited it is to play the final year, and some thoughts on the passing of the Caudreau brothers a few weeks ago.
Adam Schindler of the Gazette, my colleague, will join me for his weekly look at the area college football scene. Tough losses for both union and Ualbany last weekend. Both teams look to bounce back this weekend. So Adam, we'll talk about that and then we're going to talk Syracuse football off to a 20 start, an impressive win over a ranked Georgia Tech team last Saturday. Brian Higgins, a 2000 Shaker high school graduate. He's a host of the 315 on the ESPN radio affiliate in Syracuse. He joins me to talk about the orange and what if there's a different attitude now with the football team, of course, with the new head coach as well.
So coming up, we're going to talk some union college hockey and get ready for the season. It's a little couple weeks away. Can't believe it. It's unbelievable. So let's talk Union College hockey next here on the parting Shots podcast.
Hi, I'm Rick Marshall from the Daily.
[00:02:30] Speaker B: Gazette's martial arts podcast. In each episode, I interview artists from around the region, from musicians and comedians, dancers, sculptors, even video game designers. After you finish the latest episode of the Parting Shots podcast, I hope you'll.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Give martial arts a try.
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[00:03:00] Speaker B: Hi, this is ECAC hockey commissioner and union hockey alum Doug Christiansen.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: You're listening to the parting hockey to the podcast. Time to talk some union kawasaki we're getting close to the start of the season. The Garner Charger will open play October 5, an exhibition game against Providence. That is the return of Nate Lehman, the former union head coach and has not been back since he left to go to Providence after the 20 1011 season, of course. Also, Joel Beale, former union player and assistant coach, will be back with Layman. So that should be a fun day on October 5 at Mesa, 01:00 start and then the regular season opens the next day, October 6, Union will host Army West Point at 04:00. Of course, this is the final season of hockey at Messer Inc. And barring any unforeseen circumstances, last Wednesday was the first final practice of the season for Union at Mesa.
Of course, a lot of excitement for this season, not only because it's a final year, Mesa, but Union seems to have a pretty good team you could challenge maybe for a top four spot in ECAC hockey. Had a chance to go over last week to talk to some of the players and head coach Josh Algee and talk about what the excitement level is like, obviously getting ready for the final season of hockey. And Mesa also asked about the tragic passing of the Goodreau brothers. So here first we're going to talk with Josh Algae, the head coach. And of course, remember, a couple weeks from now, we'll have a regular spot with Josh with the his coaches segment here on the parting shots podcast. We'll tape that mostly, I believe, every Wednesday. But then of course, we like you to participate with questions for Josh. And I think the segment went well last year and I'm looking forward to year two of the segment, Josh Hoji being his third season as the head coach of the Garner Chargers. So here's what Josh Halchi had to say last week.
[00:05:05] Speaker C: Josh there's always excitement for start of the season, but with this year being the final year of Messrink, and this is today's the last first opening practice here at the rink, does this holding a special meaning going into this season?
[00:05:20] Speaker D: Yeah, I think, you know you want to make sure you do this place right and any honor and pay respect to it because it's been such a great, great venue for college hockey and a lot of cool games have happened here and just hearing all the former players kind of talk about their favorite memories has been pretty fun this offseason.
[00:05:38] Speaker C: What does it mean for this final season? Does that make this season getting ready for this even more intense? You want to do well, leave this good impression this season?
[00:05:48] Speaker D: Well, I think it's been something that we've been talking about all off season and the fact that, like what this arena is meant to the people that have come before us and how we want to make sure we play the right way. But I think there's big expectations for us just to try to take a step as a program and as a group.
[00:06:04] Speaker C: As your third year as a head coach, what have you learned in your first two years and how excited and confident are you heading into year three?
[00:06:12] Speaker D: Well, it's been a growing process for this group and myself and now we're all a little bit more mature and, you know, kind of know how the league is going to run as a head coach and they know how we're going to operate as a staff. So I think, you know, those, those freshmen that played a lot two years ago are now juniors and we're expecting a big step from them. You know, guys like Colin Ferguson and Josh Nixon and Kaden Villegas that are seniors like we're looking for. So it's kind of exciting. We're not a young hockey team anymore. We got some experience and we're ready to go.
[00:06:43] Speaker C: One of those juniors and John Proko, he had a great year. The expectations for him could even be higher this year.
[00:06:50] Speaker D: I think that John had a great offseason. He looks strong. He looks physically ready to go. We always have big expectations for John and that's not going to change.
[00:07:00] Speaker C: What do you see in this team and the growth of this team compared to a year ago?
[00:07:06] Speaker D: Well, I think that there's just a lot more maturity from, again, those younger players, and I think they all kind of saw what it, what it took to win in the playoffs last year. And, you know, for us, we got to take that next step here and keep advancing. But it's a lot of work and it's a lot of work early. You can't be trying to make up for it at the end of the season.
[00:07:24] Speaker C: What are your goals heading into these practices leading up to the exhibition game against Providence and then the regular season game the next day? Against Army West Point.
[00:07:33] Speaker D: Yeah, I think early on here it's going to be all about effort and our habits and details. Just making sure we're doing things the right way, you know, keep building on the way we've been playing. And, you know, as you get, you know, moving forward, we'll go into making sure we're handling the puck well and passing well and then from there add in some structure. So early on it's just going to be all about our compete and our detail.
[00:07:55] Speaker C: Have you decided on captives yet?
[00:07:57] Speaker D: We haven't yet. Obviously, like, we expect some guys, you know, to be a part of that leadership group and guys like, you know, obviously you mentioned John, but Cullen Ferguson has done a great job leading. Kaden Villegas, Josh Nixon, Nick young are all guys that like, come to mind for me that are, that are going to be in that leadership group.
[00:08:15] Speaker C: Unfortunately, hockey world was hit for tragedy a few days ago at the passing of the Goudreau brothers, especially Johnny Godot. I mean, what was he like to watch as a college hockey player?
[00:08:25] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, this is a tough one for everybody.
It just hits so close to home and the fact that he's a college hockey player that was, everybody was drawn to and just how special he was and then, you know, it's tough and just everything surrounding it is terrible.
You know, just myself thinking about, you know, I have an eight and ten year old son and what that would do to your family, it's heartbreaking.
[00:08:48] Speaker C: What was he like to watch? I mean, how good was he?
[00:08:51] Speaker D: I mean, there's. He was Johnny hockey for a reason. I mean, it was pretty special. Just the way he would take over a game and how talented he was and just how funny it was for.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Everybody to watch now is senior defenseman Colin Ferguson, who had an outstanding junior campaign. He had a career high in points with three goals and 15 assists. He's expected to be one of the leaders on this 20, 24, 25 garner Charger team could wear a c or an A c for the captain, a for the alternate captain. So course Cullen usually has some good things to say and he did last Wednesday when I spoke with him. So here's my conversation with defenseman Colin Ferguson.
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Colin, normally, obviously, first practice the season, you're always excited, but is it first practice today? It's the last first practice in this building.
What is the excitement like, the level like going into this season knowing that this is, I mean, not only for you, your final season, final season of this ring?
[00:09:54] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, it's. I've been chomping at a bit here for the last couple weeks to get started and I've been counting down the days. I can't wait to get after it.
As for the mesa, you know, this is my home, so I'm happy to be back here and, yeah, I can't wait to get started.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: What does this place mean to you?
[00:10:11] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, a lot of people have actually asked me about going about the new rink and not being able to go because this is my senior year and for being completely honest, I don't really care because, like, mesa is my home. This is the only place I'd want to play for union and I feel like any other place would just feel weird. So, I mean, I'm embracing the fact that, like, this is my last year at the Mesa and this is Mesa's last year.
[00:10:34] Speaker C: What is it like to play in this building?
[00:10:36] Speaker E: I mean, the Mesa faithful bring it every night and I absolutely love it. It's a loud rink because we have, like, the dome atmosphere.
Yeah, there's nothing better than Friday and Saturday night to mess a rink. So I just can't wait to get back.
[00:10:50] Speaker C: What's the excitement level of this team going into the season? It got to the quarterfinals last year. Expectations have to be high.
[00:10:57] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, we're excited about the group we got coming back and the new young guns we're bringing in. So I think there's a ton of excitement around our group and, you know, we're really looking to get after here in the next couple weeks and get started and we just want to play some games. So, yeah, I.
[00:11:14] Speaker C: What do you think the key is going to be for the season to get over that, get to Lake plastic?
[00:11:19] Speaker E: I just think the biggest thing is going to be buying in the d zone. UC is a defensive conference and we have a lot of skill. I think it's just going to come down to guys buying into the defensive zone and that comes down to things like blocking shots and being in the right position at all times, having to get sticks.
[00:11:36] Speaker C: Well, hockey world was hit by a tragedy a few weeks ago with the passing of the Godreau brothers.
How did that hit you? Did you ever watch Johnny play it when he was in college?
[00:11:46] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, I was devastated. Honestly. When I was first told about it, I didn't even believe it, honestly. Still, I don't really think I've come to terms with it because it just seems so sudden. But, yeah, I mean, it's devastating and your heart goes out to the Goodrell family and, I mean, I just.
I wish them all the best moving forward, and my condolences, of course.
[00:12:12] Speaker C: So what was it like watching him play at Boston College in the NHL?
[00:12:17] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, like, that's. I've watched Union. I've watched a lot of, like, union clips, like, from back in, like the. Watching Johnny Goodrow tear it up when they played union. And that's why it just feels so surreal to know that he's gone now. So, yeah, he was an unbelievable player and I think he was an unbelievable person, too.
And I've heard many good things about him and his brother. So I think it was just two.
Two good hockey players, but two better people that hockey world lost.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: Now ready to speak is union junior defenseman John Prokop. A lot of eyes will be on John this season. He could be not only one of the top defensemen the East Stacy hockey, but one of the top players in the conference and maybe, just maybe, have a chance to be in consideration for the Hobie Baker award. As a top player in college hockey, John led the team in scoring for the second straight season. He had 35 points on eight goals and 27 assists. He ranked in the top ten in EC AC hockey and assist tied for third. He was the first teamer in the AC hockey and an All American east second team.
I know probably a lot of NHL scouts in the buildings, not only Mesa, but around the ECAC hockey, looking at potentially signing John after the season as a free agent. So he's been to a couple of the development camps over the last couple of years. So like I said, he'll be a player to watch in EC AC hockey this year. Here's John Prokop.
[00:13:54] Speaker C: John is always excitement for the start of a new season, but with this year being the final year of mess, is there even more excitement as you guys start the road to Lake Placid?
[00:14:05] Speaker A: It is.
[00:14:05] Speaker F: It's been a special place for all of us playing here, and I know it's been a special place to the people that have played in the past, especially that 2014 team.
So it means a little bit more, obviously, going into last season here, even though we're excited about the new ring, it's more exciting or just as exciting to play the last year in lesser rings.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: Why is it like. What is it like playing in this ring?
[00:14:27] Speaker F: It gets loud. Everybody loves it. You can tell every game day. And it's been a special place to play since my first game here.
[00:14:34] Speaker C: So what is the sense of this team going into the season? You guys got to the quarterfinals last year. Are you guys ready to take that next step to get to Lake class?
[00:14:42] Speaker F: We are. We were a younger hockey team kind of the past two years. And obviously we have eleven juniors and you know, we have seniors leading us too. And we got a good freshman class coming in and our sophomores are right there with them too. So I think we're more experienced coming into this year and we have expectations to get that by to make Lake Class and make the tournament.
[00:15:04] Speaker C: So you had a great year last year. A lot of awards. What are your expectations for this season for yourself?
[00:15:11] Speaker F: Just to keep playing the way I've been playing. I mean, I don't take into account the awards as much it's making or helping this team make our expectations a reality.
[00:15:22] Speaker C: So unfortunately, hockey world was hit by tragedy recently with the passing of the good joke brothers.
Did you ever watch Johnny play on tv when he was at Boston College.
[00:15:32] Speaker F: Or what do you think? I never watched him at Boston College, but I've seen, you know, his highlight reels and he's always been a fun player to watch, whether he's in Calgary playing for Team USA or in Columbus. And all his highlight, real goals are just spectacular. And to see him and his brother, you know, pass in a tragedy like that, it doesn't sit well with you. And I mean, there's really no words. It's unimaginable what happened. It's just sad.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: Finally, it's union senior forward Kaden Viegas who got married over the summer. He got engaged last year and now he's a married man. Get ready for his senior season out of outstanding junior campaign. A career 30 points on twelve goals and 18 assists. He was second on the team in scoring and also second in goals. He scored the game winning goal against Brown in the first round of the EC hockey tournament and had two goal game against Dartmouth in the quarterfinals.
Kaden Villegas, I think could have another outstanding season and could be one of the leaders. Another one of those players to maybe be a force with. With in the locker room. So here is my conversation with Kaden Villegas.
[00:16:46] Speaker C: Okay then. Obviously it's always exciting to get the season going. But with this being the last year of mess and rink, does this make it even more special and more exciting as you head into the season?
[00:16:57] Speaker G: Yeah, obviously it's the last year here and we want to make it special, make it the best one we can have. So just put in the work and the preseason here and get after it right away.
[00:17:06] Speaker C: What has it been like playing in this building?
[00:17:09] Speaker G: Oh, I love it. Like I'm missing out on the the new one, but the sound in here, it's something magical. So I'll always cherish it and I'll miss it for sure.
[00:17:18] Speaker C: The fans are so loud, it makes it tough for the opposition.
[00:17:22] Speaker G: Oh, absolutely. The fans bring all the energy and I'm going to miss being in front of them on the weekends for sure.
[00:17:27] Speaker C: This season. You guys last year got to the quarterfinals of the EC hockey tournament.
Good majority of these guys are back for this season as late classic.
Is that a realistic possibility going into the season?
[00:17:41] Speaker G: Yeah, definitely our goal, but it doesn't stop there. We want to get to the tournament and go as far as we can. As coach says, we want to win our last game, so that's the goal.
[00:17:49] Speaker C: What is the mood like going into this season?
[00:17:52] Speaker G: We know we're a bit of an older group now. We got a lot of our returners, a lot of our scoring coming back up front and then our D corps a lot older. So they got that experience. So we're super excited for what we have.
[00:18:04] Speaker C: But the rest of the league, have you had a chance to look at the other teams yet or not?
[00:18:08] Speaker G: Not worried about those guys, just us right now.
[00:18:11] Speaker C: It was tough for the hockey world recently with the passing of the Goudreau brothers. Did you ever watch Johnny play when he was at Boston College in the NHL?
[00:18:19] Speaker G: Yeah. I never really got the chance to see him in college, but when he was in the NHL, obviously he's a smaller guy like me.
I loved his game, loved watching him. He is such a joy to be around from what I'm hearing. And obviously it's a tragedy and I'm just wishing the most or the best for his family and all the people that were affected by the loss of those two guys. I'm sorry for that.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: We're going to talk some pigskin union college football and ultimately football with Adam Schindler next. We'll look back at last weekend's games and look ahead to this weekend's games. You're listening to the parting shots podcast.
You guys just didn't want it bad enough. That should have been an easy win. What were you doing out there?
[00:19:11] Speaker H: You got a hustle?
[00:19:12] Speaker A: You could have made that play if you'd been open on the car ride.
[00:19:16] Speaker I: Home after the game. When you think you're helping by telling me what I did wrong and what I need to work on, all I hear is that I'm not good enough, that I'm supposed to be perfect, that it's not okay to lose on the car ride home. All I need to hear is how much you love me and enjoy watching me play. That my worth isn't determined by my performance.
That even on my worst day I am worthy, that you see me learning, growing and doing my best. And that is enough.
[00:19:57] Speaker A: This message presented by NISFA and the New York State Athletic Administrators association.
[00:20:05] Speaker H: Hi, this is Daily Gazette reporter Chad Arnold. You're listening to the parting shots podcast.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
[00:20:13] Speaker A: Welcome back to the podcast. Time to talk area college football with the Gazettes Adam Schindler. And Adam not a great weekend for the area football teams and Union ualpany. Let's start with union first. They opened the season last Friday at Utica and dropped a 4126 decision to Utica. I mean, was that a kind of a shocking and tough debut for John Drock?
[00:20:35] Speaker B: Head coach John Drock went into this game having talked to him last week, knowing that Utica was going to be a tough game. I think they were confident, but I don't think they're, they're utterly shocked. This was a good and experienced Utica team, and when you get turnovers and big plays are two things that can really hurt you. And Union got hit with both of those and they really struggled at points to stop the run in this game.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: Yeah, Union was actually up twelve, seven at one point in this game and then it just got away from him.
[00:21:03] Speaker B: Yeah, they really struggled to get to the half. They're down 22 to twelve and then boom, first play of the second half, the Utica running back Matt Bentley goes 90 yards for Matt Brantley goes 90 yards for a touchdown. He finishes with 185 yards on 20 carries. Union gives up 253 rushing yards, which is not something teams did to Union last year. But they were replacing a good amount in the front seven. And yeah, they just, they kind of struggled a little bit as the game wore on and they had a couple of costly turnovers that really hurt them.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Patch flag and getting a start at quarterback.
Went 13 to 34 for 206 yards, three touchdowns, but also through two interceptions and he ran for a team leading 71 yards. How would you assess his performance?
[00:21:48] Speaker B: Uneven had really struggled at the beginning of the game. Missed his first five or six passes, found a groove in the later part of the first half, but then threw an interception that hurt him through another interception in the second half. Did some good things with his legs. They said he was able to move the chains a few times, which helped because this union team really did not get either Michael Fiore or Jonathan Anderson going in the running game, and that's the thing you would have expected. But again, the thing that this union team knew going into Utica is that Utica was big and physical upfront. And that's exactly what gave union trouble when these two teams met two years ago and Utica won at Frank Bailey Field, which Utica is the only team since the 2017 opener that union lost in non conference. They've only lost two non conference games since then. They are both to Utica in the last three seasons.
[00:22:44] Speaker A: What do you think, without speaking to head coach John Drock, what do you think they need to do to get better as they prepare for their home opener Saturday against SUNY Maritime and they.
[00:22:53] Speaker B: Need to get off the field when they get opportunities. They really, really struggled to just slow down that Utica offense. Utica does some unique things. They run a lot of actual two quarterback packages. They had a mobile quarterback that they could bring into the game and I mean, Utica had the ball for almost 37 minutes in this game, which is not an advantage, which is very difficult for union to give up. They gave up more than 500 yards of total offense, which is not something that happened to this union team last year. They were able to do some good things, but I think the idea is we just need to tighten things up. We need to bring, you know, they need to tackle. If you allow 253 rushing yards, you did not tackle very well.
[00:23:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Quarterback Brett Fuller was 23 for 38 for 248 yards, so they didn't really stop him either.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: Yeah, they really, they struggled in a lot, in a lot of aspects in this game. Defensively give up 41 points. That's pretty obvious. This was a team that did not. This was a team that even when the offense, the union offense slowed down in the latter half of last season, the defense really carried them and they're going to need that to happen. And this should be a chance Saturday. SUNY Maritime coming in, a chance to get right and this is Utica was the toughest non conference game on this schedule. Springfield will be a tough game in a couple of weeks, but even though they still have three of their next four, they still have three games on the road after they're home this weekend. That was the toughest game and a good starting off point for them to hopefully get their groove under them as they get closer to Liberty League play.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: What do we know about Suny Maritime?
[00:24:35] Speaker B: SUNY Maritime won their opener last week against Massachusetts Maritime. They won the Chowder bowl 22 to 14.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: So it was red chowder.
[00:24:42] Speaker B: The Manhattan Chowder unfortunately won this week. If we want to have a chowder podcast, then I can.
[00:24:51] Speaker A: I'm doing it all the way.
[00:24:52] Speaker B: Then I will fight the existence of Manhattan clam chowder.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: I love not only doing clam chow, I love putting Tabasco sauce. Doing clam chowder.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: I'm black pepper and I'm good. But yeah. SUNy Maritime was a five five team last year. They struggled against a couple of common opponents. They were beaten pretty bad by Springfield last year who union handled pretty easily. So it's just this game is more about union getting its groove under him. Saw some interesting things offensively from them. When they did get things going, there was a little bit more jet sweep action and giving patch Flanagan a chance to really make some decisions in the run game. But it will be interesting to see what this team starts to look like as they open at home. And if you start zero two, then all of a sudden you get to be a little more nervous. But if they're one and one with Springfield, Montclair State coming up to round up the non conference season, they can feel pretty good about where they're going to be entering Liberty League play.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: Let's move over to Ualbany. And the great Danes went to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers in the game at nobody expected you Albany to win. I love the headline on the press release that came Albany website, it says number 16 football makes noise at FPS West Virginia. But it was at 48 40, 914 West Virginia victory. So it did the great things make any noise?
[00:26:10] Speaker B: Honestly? Yes. This was, this was a 35 point game because they couldn't slow down West Virginia's offense, which you'd be fairly unsurprised to see. Ualbany was competitive in this game. They fell down 21 nothing early and I they got back within seven points in the first half. They had a chance to keep it at seven going to halftime. West Virginia scores late in the half. They march right down the field off of a UAlbany touchdown in 6th place, 75 yard drive that covers 75 seconds. And then coming out in the second half, Ualbany drove right down the field, had a couple of big pass plays. They had first and goal from the two with a chance to make it a one with a one touchdown game and they cannot punch it in from the two. Three incomplete passes and a quarterback run that didn't go anywhere.
Fourth down, they tried a fade pass and receiver seven. McGee slipped coming out of his break. Never really had a chance to get the ball and you'd say first and goal from the two why aren't you running it?
They were not running the ball at all, pretty much through the entire game until the very final drive could not get their running game going. The passing game actually wasn't efficient, but they were able to hit downfield quite a lot in this game. There were actually far more positive signs than you'd think from a 35 point.
[00:27:35] Speaker A: I mean, what did they take from this? Positives. I mean, how important does it take the positives from a game that, as I said, they didn't expect to win that game, but what can, what can they take from this?
[00:27:47] Speaker B: What you can take from this is you're pretty sure you've got a real quarterback again, you know, coming off the Liu game, Miles Burkett did not have the best debut. And while he was under 50% completion percentage again for the second straight week, a lot of that came late. But 18 to 39, 306 yards and a touchdown.
This deep ball looked really. He made a couple of really impressive throws that made you realize, this is why this kid, washing a four star recruit who got picked up by a big ten school, coming out of high school in Wisconsin, made a couple of, like, back foot backpedaling throws under pressure that were right on target. And they've got a lot of guys in this passing game. Seven McGees looked very good through two weeks, 200 plus receiving. He's averaging 100 plus receiving yards a game. Levi Wentz, Marquis Dietz are experienced guys in this offense. And then Jakari Carter was a guy basically no one had, really wasn't even on the depth chart, made a really impressive play for a touchdown in this game. And, yeah, they've really started to find, okay, we can have that similar vertical passing game that was really the key to that offensive success late last year.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: Of course, now they go on the road again, this time to Idaho. And, of course, rematch last year's FCS quarterfinal game that you already Wondez.
You think Idaho has got revenge on its mind?
[00:29:07] Speaker B: I don't know if Idaho has revenge on its mind in the sense that there's a lot of difference. Last year's game was very much about two star young quarterbacks, neither of whom are still there. I would think the Idaho coaching staff, yes, we'll say, hey, we want this game. But also, this is an Idaho team that has serious national championship aspirations. They've played two FBS teams so far. They were very competitive against an Oregon team that has come into the year as considered maybe outside national championship contenders, hasn't looked great in either of its games so far. But then they went out and beat Wyoming.
And I am certain this is an Iowa team that's going to be top ten nationally in the FCS this week. They are really, really good. And if you follow the blueprint of the teams Ualbany has faced so far, you want to be physical and run the ball. Ualbany struggled a little bit to stop the run the first two. So I would expect the Vandals inside the Kibbe dome to be, to be very aggressive running the football.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: What does it say? What it mean back to back, tough road trips? How important is it to maybe end up getting a split of this?
[00:30:14] Speaker B: I mean, this would, a win here is huge because a win here and a good CAA season, this is a resume win that would absolutely put you in position for an at large FCS playoff Bidde I, but also just gives a statement that, hey, we are finding that level that we did last year. They have a bye week coming off of this before CAA play opens next week against Maine. It's a confidence boost and I think this team actually will be a little bit more confident coming off of an encouraging offensive performance against West Virginia. And if they can find the defense, which is really where this team needs to find its identity right now. They haven't had a, a great day on defense in either game yet.
That would be where you'd really be encouraged, especially if they can find a pass rush, which is the thing that this team absolutely lived on last year so far, haven't gotten to the quarterback as much and you'd really want to see them now, especially playing teams on the FCS level. You want to see them start to find some guys who can replace the likes of Anton Junkage and the late AJ Saiyan.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: I gotta ask you, being a Syracuse grad, the orange off to a 20 start upset Georgia Tech this past Saturday. We're gonna have Brian Higgins on from Syracuse. ESPN radio in Syracuse CEO 315 after this segment. But is there genuine excitement about this team right now?
[00:31:41] Speaker B: I think so. I mean, especially when you look at the fact that, you know, Kyle McCord comes in from, from Ohio State and has looked every bit the part of the kind of transfer quarterback that you want coming in. He has looked after a couple of iffy passes in the, in the early on in the opener against Ohio. He's looked absolutely spectacular and it's a team that has really started to find its identity. There's issues. Special teams really hurt them. Against Georgia Tech, that game should not have been as close as it was, but they gave up on blocks of field goal, a blocked punt, and they could not. And then they allowed Georgia Tech to recover an onside kick late in the game that got them back within three points.
Offensively, it's as deep a Syracuse team as I've seen in a long, long time, and I've been following the program for close to 25 years now. Defensively, there's a lot of talent. Not having Marlow wax the linebacker there right now due to injury is tough. He's the, the key in the middle of that defense. But there's optimism that if this is the kind of brand of football that they want to play, this is going to be a fun team to watch. They're on a buy this week. They have Stanford coming in next week, and as an alumni and a fan, all you want to see is this team playing and winning meaningful games in the second half of the season because even when they've been good in recent years, they've really struggled to finish out years. It would be nice to see this team, you know, build as a season progresses, which they haven't done since 2018.
[00:33:13] Speaker A: Well, appreciate a few minutes, Adam. We'll do this again next week and we'll see union and ultimately fare on Saturday.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: All right, that's Adam Schindler, as I said. Come up Brian Higgins from ESPN Radio in Syracuse. He'll talk about the orange. You're listening to the parting shots pod. I'm sorry, the parting shots podcast.
Hey, pro football fans, it's time again to match Wits with other pro football fans and win a prize by playing the Daily Gazette's you pick'em football contest to play. Go to dailyGazetteprofootball, dot up.net and make your picks before the first game kicks off each week. If you have the most weekly points, you win a $100 Hannaford gift card. Play the deli Gazettes. You pick a football contest today.
Hi, this is Union college head football coach John Drock. You're listening to the parting Shots podcast with the Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
Welcome back to the podcast. The Syracuse football team is off to a 20 start, and joining me to talk about the orange start to the season is the host of the 315 on ESPN radio Syracuse, and he is a 2000 shaker, high school graduate and one time voice of the Tri City Valley Cats. Please welcome to the program Brian Higgins. Brian, appreciate a few minutes, and it's been a long time since we chatted because I remember you when you broke into the broadcasting world back there with the Valley Cats.
[00:34:41] Speaker H: Oh, man. Ken, good to hear your voice. Yeah, it's been a minute since those first few seasons.
That was fun back in the day. It's fun back in the day. Good to think back on those days.
[00:34:51] Speaker A: So let's talk about the football team. We're off to a 20 start, big win last Saturday where ranked Georgia tech team that upset Florida State.
We're in Dublin Island. I mean, how impressive is this team? How impressive was that game once last Saturday?
[00:35:06] Speaker H: I mean, the game was a lot of fun. Ken, this team's been fun to watch, and I think it's just been. It's been kind of like ten months building here. Like, it all goes back to last season. Like, we've been watching the Dito Bakers teams for eight years. You know, it had some significantly higher high water marks, beating Clemson, winning ten games. But it got stale at the end. Changes are made. You hire this guy, Fran Brown, nobody knows who the heck this guy is. And then you start learning more and more about him. And the excitement grew. Recruiting hit. You get Kyle McCourt, Ohio State's quarterback, out of the portal and it just kept building. I mean, you know, what is that here, Ken? Usually we go to basketball season and forget football for a little while. We never forgot it. Like, it went nine months. And the build to this has been so much fun. There's a buzz around town we haven't had here in a while. Long time. Speaker two.
[00:35:55] Speaker A: I'm looking at the France picture on the Syracuse website.
The picture brings out. He looks intense in the picture. Is he that way with you guys with, with the football team? And does he, how important is it bring that intensity to this football team?
[00:36:10] Speaker H: Yeah, he's an interesting dude because he's, he's soft spoken most of the time, but it's like a quiet intensity. But he can get, like when he gets latched on something, like he did, thinking he was slighted by Georgia Tech's head coach last week, it kind of became a rallying cry for the whole week, which was kind of funny to see. So he's a soft spoken guy, but he's a very intense guy. And what we've seen so far is he's a guy that knows how to speak the language of today's player. They seem to gravitate to him.
[00:36:43] Speaker A: He was a member of the, he was an assistant coach in the 2022 Georgia national championship team. How much credibility did that instantly bring to this football team here at Syracuse?
[00:36:53] Speaker H: I think a lot, because it's one where, when, when you go into a hiring process, like it. You know, Dino got fired after the second to last game of the season last year. And you start looking at, okay, who could be reasonable candidates? Where do you go? You go to, you know, sitting head coaches, former head coaches, our coordinators. So you look around and Fran had not been any of those. So he was not a name that we were aware. I'd never heard of the guy before. I don't know who this guy is. And you start seeing his name pop up like, who is this guy? I don't know this guy. But then you see Georgia, you hear his northeast ties and I think what really sold it initially when he got here, like the recruiting, that happened immediately. When I say immediately, I mean like the first weekend. Some of the guys he had on campus is like, oh, wait a minute, this guy is, this guy's doing some different stuff we've seen around here in a long time.
[00:37:44] Speaker A: You mentioned the quarterback, Kyle McCord, a transfer from Ohio State. How has he looked? I mean, is this probably the most impressive passing game we've seen with the orange in a while?
[00:37:53] Speaker H: Yeah, a while if ever. I mean, depending on how far we're back here, we're going to go here. He's been, I mean, he's over 700 yards and eight touchdowns through two games. And one of those is a ranked one at home against the league team in Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech's not exactly a defense forward team, but I mean, he was Ohio State's quarterback and he got, he got run out of Columbus on a rail because he didn't beat Michigan and he wasn't as good as CJ Stroud. Like his crime is Hedgesthe wasn't as good as the two guys that were first round NFL draft picks that came before him. Like if that's your crime, so be it. He's a fantastic player.
He's a good kid. I mean, we do a lot of stuff with him here at the station on a weekly basis. He's been great to work with. I think the only thing that stinks here about the transfer portal era and the Syracuse perspective is we only get him in town here for one year, but, you know, he can sling it. He's certainly the best passing quarterback Syracuse has had since at least Ryan NASA, which is more than a decade and in a lot of ways a different style. You go back to McNabb when you, when you're starting to make some of these comparisons about offensive success they're having.
[00:39:00] Speaker A: Do you sense that the fan base, which, you know, I've probably been, you know, disheartened with what's happened in this program for years. Can you sense there in the community, Aaron, Syracuse among, you know, the fans that the students, that maybe there's something special going. I know it's only two games, but there seems to be a different, this team seems to be different, seem to be a lot more confident with, with their play, and maybe that reflects what the coach is like.
[00:39:28] Speaker H: Yeah, it's kind of two fold because I'd say this off season I had, you know, in March, in May, I had way more just random conversations with people about Syracuse football than I would have in those months, you know, like in any time in 20 years. And people are definitely very excited about it. I think people have really high hopes, you know, into all these seconds, what's the season going to be? What's the record going to be? And people are like, well, why aren't they going to win the league and go to the college football playoff and all this stuff? That said, like, the other side of things is the Syracuse fan base is a little beaten down because, you know, over 20 years, there have been a few landmark moments, but most of it's not been great. So while I think people are excited, the attendance has been, you know, okay, through two games, it hasn't been fantastic. It's just kind of been all right. So I think it's. I think it's twofold, Ken. Like, people are excited, people care, but at the same time, Syracuse fans have been through a lot, so they're a little reserved and putting their money where their mouth is right now.
[00:40:32] Speaker A: I mean, how much. Also, does it help that their first four games are at home? I mean, they're off this this weekend and they host Stanford next Friday, and I'm still trying to get used to Stanford being in the ACC.
[00:40:45] Speaker H: Yeah. Noted ACC rivals with Stanford will be here next Friday, but exactly like, Stanford's not any good. Like, if you lose that game, that's a problem. Next Friday you got Holy Cross after that, which is your FCS game. So realistically, Syracuse, you know, you picked up votes in the poll this week. You're up to what would be 29th, your four spots out of the top 25. Not that you're going to get any big win, but you might watch a few teams lose. I mean, don't look down. You might accidentally find yourself ranked here undefeated going into October, which then just the way the schedule works. There's no actual home games in October this year, not until November. But you got a chance here for some serious momentum to build in the.
[00:41:26] Speaker A: Next month or so, judging, looking at the schedule, don't play Clemson. I'm just double checking to make sure, but just the way the schedule works for them. Is it possible that they could find themselves in the ACC championship game if things break right?
[00:41:40] Speaker H: Yes. Yes is the short answer. You know, we've broken down the schedule 8 million times, and now Florida State obviously doesn't look like Florida State, but like Syracuse, for all those years they were in the same division with Clemson and Florida State. Every year you knew you had to play in both. So like every year you knew you didn't have a shot of making the conference title game. You had no chance. Like, because either Clemson or Florida State or both was a dominant team. Syracuse's first eleven years in this league, you didn't have a shot of making the conference championship game. Well, now it's no divisions. Different things. Go figure. You don't have FSU on the schedule this year and they, they may stink, but you don't have Clemson, you don't have Florida State. What I look at the schedule as there's a lot of coin toss games. Georgia Tech was one of them, and Syracuse ended up on the right side of it. I see like seven more coin toss games on the schedule, including basically every league game, because I don't think there's a. I don't think there's a game left where you're like, it would take moving heaven and earth to win the game where in years past, like, to be Clemson and beat Florida State and Syracuse has done that. It took like an all timer and then half your team got hurt and the rest of your season was ruined after the fact. You don't have that. Miami. I think everyone's thinking, at least today, Miami may be the best team in the league. That's the season finale. So if you get to that in good shape, great. But I think it sets up to have a chance. That said, I think there's probably six, seven other teams in the league that are having that same conversation because this league is as wide open as it has been since Syracuse joined us.
[00:43:12] Speaker A: Yeah. As you mentioned, no home games in October. They go to UNLV for on October 4 or Friday night. They go to North Carolina State the following Saturday, October 12, off on the 19th, and they play a Thursday night game at Pitt on October 24. So if they go. If they win their, you know, go 40 heading into that, that stretch, two and one possibly. Was that a possibility?
[00:43:36] Speaker H: Yeah, I mean, I'll say anything's possible that stretch, because they all three of those games I've put in the coin toss piece this year, like UNLV, they won nine games last year and you got to travel out west. Like, should you beat UNLV? Yeah, but it's a long road trip here in Vegas. Who the heck knows what might happen? NC State before the start of the season, I looked at the schedule. I said, NC State's the hardest game of the schedule. Syracuse has never played well in Raleigh. NC State was bringing back a lot. Now, like two weeks in NC State, they got absolutely smoked by Tennessee the last week. They didn't look good against their FCS opponent in week one. I'm like, okay, maybe that's more doable at Pitt. I don't think Pitt's that good. But Syracuse hasn't won in Pittsburgh in 20 years. So it's, it's one where like, I feel they could win all those games, but I feel they could lose any of those games. And I think that's what's making this season so intriguing. Like, each of these games, I'm like, man, I actually, for a change, don't know what's going to happen.
[00:44:33] Speaker A: We haven't talked about defense. What about Syracuse's defense? How do you see that?
[00:44:38] Speaker H: It's a work in progress here. They lost their, their stud middle linebacker, Marlowe Axie. Injury. Week one, he's out. It looks like for at least half the season. They made some intriguing changes on defense last week with their SEC transfer Texas A and M guy. Fidel Diggs kind of played a hybrid role as a DN middle linebacker and kind of freaked out. Georgia Tech a little bit was something they haven't seen. It's a work in progress. Ohio ran all over him in week one. They shored that up in week two.
Secondaries got some guys that have NFL futures. Fadil Diggs has an NFL future. I think they're intriguing. People are really high on the new defensive coordinator, Elijah Robinson. He also was hired away from Texas A and M, a Jersey guy like Fran Brown. So I think they're a group with potential. Very young and inexperienced up front. So if it's a group that's going to have issues, it's going to be. They just don't have enough size or experience at d line. But I was. I'll give it this. Game one, the defense was bad. Game two, they started off sketchy and really fixed it at halftime. So I've loved the improvements that made so far.
[00:45:46] Speaker A: Let me give you a chance to promote yourself here.
When are you on ESPN radio Syracuse, what are your hours? And also all the social media?
[00:45:55] Speaker H: Yeah, I mean, we're all over the place live, four to six daily. ESPN radio Syracuse, you can catch it streaming on our website at espn syracuse.com dot. We also do it is 2024 Ken, so we're going to have pictures for everything. Qsportstalk.com is our twitch platform where we stream all of our shows live and have a great chat and go back and forth on it. And you can catch me on all the social medias, Twitter and whatnot at brianhigginssu.
Sports talk is all of our social medias where we put all the stuff out and we have a good time with it. Pre game shows, post game shows for football. So it's a lot of fun through winning. So hopefully it keeps rolling here.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: I appreciate you guys. Brian, great catch up with you and good luck with everything out there in Syracuse.
[00:46:40] Speaker H: I can't appreciate it.
[00:46:41] Speaker A: Always good to talk, Brian Higgins.
[00:46:43] Speaker C: I'll be back to wrap up the.
[00:46:43] Speaker A: Podcast and have the winners in the Daily Gazettes. You pick a football and auto racing contest. You're listening to the parting Shots podcast.
[00:47:03] Speaker J: If you really want to know what's going on in your community, you have to read the Daily Gazette. We don't take a side. We're right down the middle and we're going to get to the truth. Our reporters and photographers are out in the field bringing you updates every minute with trust, accuracy and integrity from the first page to the last page. Independent, probing journalism. We're finding out what's going on community where nobody else is covering. It's who we are. It's what we do.
[00:47:35] Speaker H: Hi, this is Daily Gazette sports writer Mike McAdam.
[00:47:38] Speaker B: You're listening to the party shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
[00:47:43] Speaker A: Back to wrap up the podcast, the week one winner in the Daily Gazette's u picking football contest was David McConville, Schenectady with a 16 and zero record. David wins a dollar 100 Hannah gift card. Congratulations, David. The vip winner was my colleague Adam Schinder. He went 15 and one. Great start for Adam. The only game he lost was the New England Cincinnati game because that was one of the games I lost. I went 13 three. So not too shabby of a start for me either.
I'll announce the you pick them football contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Thursday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to Daily Gazette.com and click on the you pick em football banner winner.
The week 27 winner the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest Miss Melody Caroula of Schenectady with 45 points. Melody wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Melody. The vip winners were Dwayne Leach of all season equipment and Nick playtel Grand premier tires with ten points each. I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Saturday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailygazette.com and click on the auto racing contest bandaid justice calls Covid-19 mandates are easing. That does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, and do it for your friends. I got my booster last week and I'm ready to go.
That wraps up another edition of the parting shots podcast. I want to thank Josh Halge, Cullen Ferguson, John Prokop, Katie Village, Adam Schindler and Brian Higgins for coming on the show. If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them to me at shot. That's sch h o t tailygazette.com. follow me on x and threads at slapshots.
The views expressed on the parting shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The parting shot podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Delegazette, sports editor. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time from the party Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day. Good sports.
