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Well, good morning, everybody.

Welcome to another edition of Game Notes here on LP.

I'm Victor Holland.

Great to have you with us on this Saturday morning as we get set to kick off week four of the college football season, the Grambling Tigers are back off of their bye.

They are out of state along with southern.

We'll talk about that in just a little bit.

The Nicholls Colonels are back home where they've been very good as of late.

Will preview that ball game for you.

Louisiana Tech is on its by.

And we have another top 25 mega showdown in Baton Rouge that will be played under the lights on prime time.

All of that's coming up here in the next 30 minutes, but let's start coming off of a weekend for an historic win from the Lions from over in Hammond, America.

And after coming up short on the first 35 tries, Southeastern Lions finally found success against an FBS opponent last week with the road win over Ulm.

It certainly was a nice drive back to Hammond with a paycheck and a W and maybe some respect.

Head coach Frank says his team deserves and earned with their effort.

Good win for our guys.

You know, we, you know, it was we treat everything like every week.

We we prepared, we practiced and we played with the expectations of win the game.

And we did, you know.

So it wasn't on the contrary, it was not our we didn't go out by Super Bowl rings because that was not our Super Bowl.

That was not the, that wasn't something that we just said, you know, let's get up for it because it's a big game.

It wasn't just another game.

We got a nice paycheck from it and everything else so we can pay some bills around here.

But, you know, it was it was the the opportunity for us to go play again.

And and that's what it is.

I know their coaches respected who we were as a, as an organization.

I'm not so sure everybody did.

I know their ad went out and said that they're going to have a watch party for the LSU Ole Miss watch party at the end of the third quarter if the game got out of hand, well, the game kind of got out of hand.

It was 3820, but we were ahead.

And so I guess he got blindsided.

I don't know, no pun intended on that one.

No pun.

But shots fired since the A.D.

as a family from the movie The Blind Side.

Frank's getting his point across.

When you look at the stats only you might be surprised.

The Lions one running only 55 plays and giving up over 500 yards of offense.

But look at what they did with three Warhawk turnovers plus the efforts of special teams player of the week the Chi Joseph.

It all added up to an historic win, but on the grand scheme, it was just one win and not in the most important category.

We got a good football team and I think you're starting to see us get better and better each week, doing the things that we're doing, and the big thing in that game that I think made the difference in that game was the returns.

We I think we had 133 yards to 55 plus two touchdowns, the interception and the punt return.

And that's the difference in the ball game.

And then three turnovers we got gave up one.

So we won that battle.

So when you look at winning the the yardage and the returns plus points and then the turnover battle, you got a chance to win the game and that's what happened.

But we got to remember where we're right now.

We're tied for dead last in our conference.

That's where we're at where we we haven't won a game in our conference.

And they say conference late conference game.

And this is what's got to get us going again.

We gotta, you know, our preparation and everything else this week has got to be real good.

So we've got to have a good week of practice.

We've got to get back in the in the conference race.

That's what we got to be able to do.

And you know, that's that's why this game is so important.

It's a conference game.

Interstate game.

You know, got a lot of things going on.

So we got to get on the road again.

We got to be able to handle that.

And I thought we did a good job of that this past week.

We got to do it again.

That game against Monroe honestly did not surprise me at all.

They're a good, good football team.

They have been for a while.

Their physical, their sound.

They know what they want to do, and they're good at it.

And they've got great personnel and they're extremely well coached.

So, didn't surprise me at all.

You know, that's coach cellphones, alma mater.

So I'm sure he enjoyed, you know, go up there and beating those guys.

I'm sure that was pretty special for him.

But they've got a good football team.

You know their playoff team last year and probably are again they're good.

We got our work cut out for us.

You know, coach cell phone.

I have a lot of respect for for him and the way he runs his program, he's been there for, I think, nine years now.

And and that shows, you know, when somebody's been somewhere for a long time, you know, you kind of know what you're going to get.

But they're still awful hard to beat because they know what they're doing.

And, they're, they're fun for us to watch on film.

Obviously.

Demon head coach Blaine McCorkle, not shocked at all at the Lions win last week, knowing they'll have their hands full tonight as they look for win number one on the season.

Last week, the demon started Zach Wilkie at quarterback for the first time this season, giving the offense a bit of a boost in the loss to Weber State out in Utah, something they hope will continue tonight back at home.

He gave us a little juice in there.

And you know he and Abraham in theory are really similar type players.

They just have a little bit different style of doing it.

You know, it's actually taller and he's more of a straight ahead guy and Abrams a little bit more of a slasher, things like that.

But Zach did give us a little bit of juice.

And we were able to lot of people said, oh, did you change your offense?

No, we didn't change our offense.

We just expanded on something that was already in our offense that we did a little bit more of.

And that's the beauty of what we do, is we had the ability to adjust and go a lot of different directions in a hurry.

And we did it and it paid off for us.

We moved the ball well on offense, we just got to limit the mental errors and the costly mistakes.

Like like you said, the numbers tell.

Like, we we moved the ball wells in offense.

And I feel like it gave a lot of guys confidence.

You know, just getting the receiver, getting the receiver room.

And when watching film with those guys is going to be big throughout the season, just, you know, seeing what we can exploit every defense every week.

So, yeah, I definitely feel like it gave us confidence going into Southeastern and Conference play.

The rest of conference play.

Well, the Lions have been very comfortable in this series, having won 15 in a row heading into tonight's game at Turpin Stadium, where the demons will play five of their next seven games, hoping home field will lead to getting win number one on the year.

They'll kick it off at 6:00 tonight and you can see it all on ESPN plus.

Well, Tiger Stadium is once again sold out tonight for a top 25 matchup between LSU and the Aggies from Texas A&M.

Both teams entered tonight's game looking for a rebound.

The Aggies lost at home to Kentucky one week ago and LSU with the tough road loss in Oxford to Ole Miss.

Tiger head coach Lane Kiffin said his players had a tough time reviewing the game tape against the rebels, where they saw a lot of missed opportunities that they left on the field.

I think they really struggled with this one after seeing it.

You don't have to.

Breaking down the film.

Talking to someone, I feel like, you know, they really feel like after seeing it that they lost the game.

In so many situations, in areas, you know, defensively playing the really good second half.

And they score one time and, you know, as you watch it, it's not even a run.

The quarterback pulls the ball on.

You know we had we do a really good job beating the tight end on it.

And Trinidad just pulls the ball.

It's not even a zone read and goes and scores.

So and then we have two guys open in the end zone at the end of the game.

So those are really hard ones to struggle with when you really go back and look and see how many ways that we came all the way back and should have won the game.

So it was it was tough on them.

You know, there's some games you just, you know, get out played out, coach, and you go, okay, you know, back to the drawing board.

And but that one, that one they really struggled with this morning scene.

Well last week it was Trinidad Chambliss the LSU defense had to worry about.

This week it's Marcell Read, the outstanding Aggie quarterback who diced and sliced LSU defense one year ago.

Tiger fans remember it was ultimately this loss to A and M that cost Brian Kelly his job.

Reed didn't have a great game in the Kentucky loss last weekend in College Station, but Giffin has been reminding his team all week.

That doesn't mean anything for the game tonight.

The bears would ever score the most points in the NFL, you know, in week one.

And then I said, that doesn't mean anything.

Sunday to Sunday doesn't mean just like Saturday to Saturday doesn't.

And then I guess yesterday they had three points and lost.

And then was the Panthers are the one who gave up all the points to him.

And then they turn around and hold somebody to three points seven days later.

So it's every week is new.

It doesn't matter how you played.

And like I told them today, you can't look at that game last week and think that's how Texas Am is going to show up and play the same.

They won't, you know, to many good players.

And Elko is a great coach.

Well, as a head coach, Lane Kiffin has a perfect three zero record against the Aggies.

And you'd like to think it's advantage LSU with a night game at home.

Over the last four plus seasons, the Tigers are 27 and three overall in Tiger Stadium, 25 and two in night games.

But one of those losses was to the team they'll face tonight.

And both teams have no interest in starting the season zero and two in conference play.

Kickoff is set for just after 630 tonight and if you weren't able to get tickets, you can see the game on ABC.

Well, the kids in Dallas, Texas are celebrating school holidays thanks to the State Fair of Texas being open.

And that means it's time for the State Fair Classic between Grambling and Prairie View played at the Cotton Bowl.

This is a huge Swac matchup, and it's one that purview has owned as of late, winning seven of the last eight meetings with the Tigers.

Mickey Joseph's team should be well rested and healthy.

Coming off their first by week of the season last week, this should be a fun one.

Kicks off at 6:00 tonight and it's yours to view on ESPN plus.

Well, the Southern Jaguars bounced back very nicely last week for head coach Marshall Faulk.

Coming off of that blowout loss to Houston, the Jags handled their business against Louisiana Christian on the bluff with a convincing 50 to 31 win.

Running back Trey Holley, who ran for over 200 yards and two touchdowns, was named Swac Offensive Player of the week this week.

And quarterback Christian Johnson, who had a hand in five Jaguar touchdowns, was tabbed the Swac newcomer of the week.

Honors were well deserved for both of them, but Coach Faulk also had his own accolades to hand out to his team.

It's great anytime you get to win the award, you know?

They hand out participation trophies too much in the world today.

So when you actually win something and you're voted on by your peers and, and the people who watch you play, it says a lot.

And here's the thing.

As good as as good as Christian was, as good as Trey was, you know, it's the offensive line.

I gave those guys a game ball for what they were able to do out there.

It's it's tough to control the line of scrimmage, regardless of who you play against.

And and we controlled the line of scrimmage pretty darn good.

Well, things really ramp up tonight for southern as they head up by 55 to Jackson, Mississippi and the boom box classic tonight against Jay State.

The Tigers offense has been the real deal, averaging 44 points a game and over 500 yards of offense.

They've also owned this rivalry as of late.

Something not lost on Faulk as he heads into his first Swac game and first classic with one of the school's biggest rivals and the most potent offenses.

Well, he's a collaboration.

I can't just put that on my defense.

What we have to do on offense, we have to possess the ball, control the clock and score.

If we do that, then it puts a little bit more pressure on their offense.

And then then they feel like, okay.

But if you look at just literally I went back and I was like, let me see the scores of these game.

I mean, these games other than one game, it's been a very comfortable game for them.

And what we want to do is make it an uncomfortable game, make it a close game to where it comes.

It comes down to plays and guys making plays.

That's that's what that's what this game.

That's what we want this game to mirror.

It's a Swac opponent.

We get we get a chance to go out there and make a statement.

That's that's what it's all about.

And listen, when you get when you get beat six times in a row, the next you you better be trying to make a statement that you know you're not going to be pushed around and bullied and, and that you're, you're you're here to fight.

That's definitely.

Yes.

We're we're here to make a statement.

But every time we take the field, we're trying to make a statement.

Look, Jay state has been the bullies of the Swac since 2021, posting a 36 and four record.

And as mentioned, they've dominated this series with southern as of late, even though the overall series is tied.

This is one of those games where the game will be good.

The halftime show will be even better if you're making the short drive to Jackson tonight.

Be safe and enjoy.

If not, no worries.

You can catch the action at 6:00 on ESPN plus.

Well, the week didn't get off to a great start for the Cowboys coming off of a road loss to Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday night.

Head coach Matt Vitor announced on Monday morning that starting quarterback Devin Leipold would be out for tonight's game against East Texas A&M.

Since then, we've now learned Leipold is out for the season with a wrist injury.

He took over the starting job three weeks ago and is for formed quite nicely, throwing for almost 750 yards and eight touchdowns.

Jake Strong, who started the season at QB and was last year starter, will be back under center tonight.

As for Saturday night's performance and where the team is now, says they're getting close.

But close isn't good enough.

We didn't play good enough to win, you know we didn't execute good enough.

I thought really going in the game I mean I thought it was a 5050 game.

In my opinion, that's not taking anything away from Rio Grande.

I think they have a really good team, I think.

And that's not coach talk.

I think they're extremely well coached.

I think they do a really good job there.

You know, the nine and oh at home for a reason.

They play well there and but we just didn't execute good enough to play to win the game.

Special teams I thought was good enough.

We actually did some really good stuff from a coverage standpoint.

I thought defensively, you know, we didn't do a good enough job against the run.

Got to tackle a little bit better.

Got to contain the quarterback better.

I thought we covered really well.

Despite that I thought you know we were hanging in the game and, I thought defensively we kept it close enough to to possibly have an opportunity to win the game.

Offensively, we didn't run the ball near effective enough.

You know they they did a good job defensively.

Give them credit for turnovers.

Certainly didn't help our calls.

The the one was the killer in the end zone for sure.

So and I think the other thing you know we got in the red zone three times.

They got no touchdowns in the three times we were down there.

One field goal two busts.

So I think we have good players.

I think we have good kids.

It's frustrating.

You know, for me because, I think we're we're close, but we're just we're still a not there, but we're not even into October yet.

And McNeese is almost out of home games after starting the season with three straight in the stadium.

The Cowboys are home tonight and then once more at the end of October.

That's it.

The rest of the season, they will be road Cowboys, adding extra importance on finding a full four quarter performance tonight.

It's important.

We already lost.

We've already lost two at home.

And so no there's no doubt that's important.

And my biggest emphasis is, you know, us playing I think as good as we can play.

That's the.

And look these games that we're in, we got to play good.

You know if you keep in score Stephen F score and oh having nobody's come close to them.

Talked in this four and oh we've obviously come the closest to them.

You know played a squad this nine and no at home.

So it's not like we got to play good to win.

And you know I think at times we have but we haven't played good enough for four quarters, you know, probably almost four quarters against Dalton.

But you know you got to play good against these teams like I said I mean they you know they're they're in a position they are for a reason because they're good and they execute.

And and although I think we're close, I guess what's frustrating to me is we're not quite there.

Well, they'll be recognized in the 1976 and 2006 McNeese teams that won Southland Conference titles at halftime tonight, and maybe some of that winning or can help this year's team get their first conference win.

Should be a fun with tonight in Lake Charles.

You can catch all the action if you won't be in the stadium on ESPN plus.

Well, there's no question the Colonels from Nicholls are comfortable playing at home under Tommy right back.

And that's where they will be this afternoon as they jump back into conference play, hosting 15th ranked Lamar.

While it's still early in the season.

Big picture there are only four teams in the South End Conference without a loss.

Nicholls is one of those and so is Lamar.

But that's because this will be their conference opener.

Lamar has a nine seven lead in the series, but they haven't won since back in 2014, and the Colonels are riding a nice win streak at home.

They will kick off at 3:00 this afternoon, so go enjoy some sun and some football down in or sit back and watch it streaming on ESPN plus.

Well, the last time we checked, Football Standing Still have two main columns wins and losses.

You won't find stats for things like ugly losses, pretty wins, or in the case of the raging Cajuns last week, ugly wins.

It might not have been pleasing to the eyes in many ways, especially on offense, but a wins a win and head coach Michael said he'll take it as his team closes in on starting conference play.

Now, in post-game notes, we heard decimal mentioned how good the defense was Saturday night.

Collin Jacob was a big part of that, racking up six tackles and interception and a forced fumble late in the ball game to earn him Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the week honors.

While it wasn't the complete effort the team was looking for in victory, decimal noticed something in his team after the game that signals maturity and growth that he knows can pay off down the road.

The thing that I was pleased with is we had different rooms on Sunday, right?

That felt worse about the way they performed than they did after a USC loss.

It's not a selfish thing like we you know, we don't care if we want to lose.

There's a standard and it doesn't matter who you play and it does not matter if you win or you lose.

If you don't play to the standard, you should be pissed off.

If you don't play to the standard, you should be disappointed because we're all happy.

We want it doesn't matter.

We'll do whatever it takes to win.

We're all happy we won.

But the reality of it is you want to feel like you did your job to help your team win.

And I think when you feel like you didn't do your job well enough as a competitor, as a great teammate, there's something side of you that it's like it just it it hurts and it hurts at you a little bit.

And I was pleased with the response.

You know, you know what I told our team and our staff is what we are as a team right now is still being written.

That is not decided in week.

You know, you know, in week three, going in a week four.

You know, it's not determined yet.

So we get to decide what kind of team we are, how we respond to things, you know, to disappointment, how we respond to success.

You know, that's up to us.

And we need to do that the right way if we want to, if we want to be a really good team in the end.

Well, tonight, the Cajuns are in North Carolina set to face Charlotte for the first time ever.

The 40 Niners are looking for win number one on the season.

They were blown out by Ole Miss in Oxford two weeks ago and last week lost to App State by five.

They'll kick it off at 530 central time tonight from Jerry Richardson Stadium, and you'll see it from start to finish on ESPN plus.

Well, the battle for the bell will be played out at Yeoman's Stadium in New Orleans tonight when the Green Wave return home to host Southern Miss.

A very short drive for these two teams.

Tulane has controlled things in this series as of late, having won three of the last four games against the Golden Eagles.

The one game they lost, well, that was back in 2022, when they lost 27 to 24 to a USM team coached by current Tulane head coach Will Hall.

He was asked 3 or 4 times in different ways this week about any extra emotions for him in this ball game or what he remembers, and his only answer was, I'm glad to be the head coach of the Green Wave.

So a topic he certainly didn't want to talk about and wanted to avoid.

But still, he understands what this matchup means for both teams.

I do see improvement.

I'm excited about this week.

It's a game that means so much to so many people.

Our fan base, their fan base.

Huge rivalry game for a trophy, which is a cool deal in college football.

It's one of the things you kind of dream about when you're a young kid to play college football and those trophy games, you know, and, and our young men are excited about this game.

A lot of our players know their players, a lot of their players know ours.

And, you know, it's it's going to be a huge opportunity for us.

It's a big game.

Both teams are one and two.

It's a big swing game for both programs season.

We certainly understand that and have the urgency in our program.

We've been in this situation before here recently.

We've been one and two, we know our whole seasons in front of us.

Our big deal is focusing on improvement.

Within everybody in the program, how can everybody get a little bit better this week?

Well, one thing the Green Wave will have to do really well is try to control Stephen Robinson.

The Golden Eagle running back is the number one running back in the Sun Belt Conference and the number two overall rusher behind Louisiana's Lunch.

Winfield.

And he's a quarterback.

Hall talked about how they use Robinson and why he appreciates what they do.

You know, I got a lot of respect for Coach Anderson and his offenses and how for a long time, Blake's been a really good coach for so many years.

Like me, he's been a head coach at a lot of different places and been successful.

He plays with a lot of tempo.

You know, that's something that really scares you about what they do.

They play extremely fast.

They spread you out with wide splits, and it can RPO you.

So if you're taking the pass away, you know, man, you give that guy a crease.

He has extreme quickness and and can really be gone just like that.

You know if you don't get him down early.

So good football player but also got a lot of respect for their scheme.

Well by the end of the night one of these two teams will be back at 500 on the season.

USM leads the overall series, but as mentioned, Tulane has won three of the last four.

Kickoff a set for 6:00 tonight off of Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans.

And if you're not headed out to, you can see it on ESPN plus.

You know, I wake up every day.

And I have and my coaching staff and my family, we have a passion and a love for this town and this university.

And I don't apologize for that.

I don't apologize for getting up every single day and fighting our tails off to make this place better.

I don't, and I take a lot of pride in the people in the university in this town, and it's personal to me because I want to fight.

I want to give them what they deserve as the head coach.

Am I passionate?

Do I care?

You're dad gum, right?

I do, and am I going to fight until the end?

And am I worried about my job?

I'm not, I'm not.

I'm here on one purpose and one purpose alone.

That's to lift this university, this this community, this program and our players to be men at a championship level.

And I won't stop until it's done.

On postgame notes Monday night, we heard the passion and the frustration from head coach Brian Vincent on seeing the fight he wants from his Warhawks, only to see mistakes derail their efforts.

He's as dedicated as ever to getting things turned around on Monroe, and tonight they'll look to rebound from that southeastern loss at home and welcome in Florida Atlantic for homecoming.

These two teams used to meet when four was in the Sun Belt Conference.

And it's a matchup the Warhawks have controlled kickoff at 7:00 tonight and hopefully it's a fun atmosphere for homecoming.

So go enjoy all the festivities if you're up in North Louisiana.

But if you can't make it, you can stream the game on ESPN plus.

Well, back to back losses against SEC and big 12 opponents has earned Louisiana Tech a bye week and some time to heal.

After a strong two and a half to three quarters against LSU.

Two weeks ago, the Bulldogs didn't have quite the same umph last week in Waco against Baylor.

But still, there were a few plays here and there that could have changed momentum and maybe made things a little more interesting.

It was proud of our kids for battling back down 29 to 7.

You know, we were really within a properly executed two point conversion for making it a 29 to 21 football game with six minutes to go in the game.

And you're a one score game.

And the way our defense is playing, you know all the confidence in the world that we would get to take away or a stop, you know, had a great onside kick dialed up.

Coach sharp did a phenomenal job of scheming that up.

You know taking advantage from the standpoint of how they miss a line.

And just didn't quite execute it.

And that's the way that it goes, you know.

And but I was proud from an offensive standpoint.

We have five yards a play on first down which that allowed us to have drives where we sustain drives.

Like you saw the first drive, we only had one three and out.

You know, I think that Trey competed his tail off.

You know obviously you know the mistakes the turnovers in the red zone are critical.

The fumble I still don't see how they recovered that ball and bounds.

But it was ruled as it is.

And so we have to deal with that.

But but I think from a competitive standpoint from his from his feet.

I thought you saw throwing the ball down the field with explosive plays.

He did a very nice job of throwing the ball down the field, feeling his way through the pocket and kept us in the game.

And so, you know, it was really proud of that.

We just got to clean up our execution in the red zone.

Also taking care of the football.

Well one thing the dogs might want to use this by week four is to reestablish the running game as a team.

They ranked 12th in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing, and their leading rusher to this point is quarterback.

He started last week and as you can see, is almost double the yardage over the next closest teammate.

It's an issue that Sunny Company knows.

Need some attention before the Bulldogs return to action?

The Louisiana Tech will enjoy a bye week this weekend.

Then when they return to action, they will be taking on Army before they jump back in for the first time.

Sun Belt Conference play and it will be back to back Louisiana opponents for the Bulldogs.

They will take on the raging Cajuns from Louisiana in Ruston, and in the following week, they will head right down I-20 to Monroe to take on the Ulm Warhawks.

So we have set the scene for what should be a great week for a huge game tonight in prime time for LSU.

Texas A&M.

Two huge Swac matchups both out of state.

And can Nichols keep the home streak running?

We'll find out.

We hope you enjoyed and we'll recap it all for you Monday night on Postgame Notes.

Until then, I'm Victor Howell.

Thanks for joining us for Game Notes here on LP be.

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