Here's what I hope we learn. We knew coming in, we have a good football team. We believe that. I know that internally. I know we feel like we have a really good defense. I know we feel like we have a good offense. I know we feel like we're better on special teams. But remember, it is not what we're capable of. It is what we are willing to do. And we have a lot of work to get where we want to go. Okay, but we play one good quarter football one. It's going to take four good quarters from here on out. Alright, so we got something to get better at. Coach Kriez, who's breaking the rock? Our chamber! We're going to see the fight, guys. We're going to see the fight, guys. Our chamber! We're going to see the fight, guys. We're going to see the fight, guys. We're going to see the fight, guys. We're going to see the fight, guys. This is the On The Pony Express podcast hosted by Billy Embody. Brought to you by Epic Estate Wines, walking strong on the Pony Express. A weekly sega with SMU alum owner, nitner of Epic Estate Wines, Bill Armstrong. Epic Estate Wines, world-class wines from Paso Robles wine country. And now your host. Welcome in, ladies and gentlemen, to another edition of Walking Strong. Bill Armstrong, I am Billy Embody. Bill, before we get into that adventure of a game in the desert, let's jump right into the wine because we're going to need it. We're going to need it. We're going to need it. Even though we deserve it. We're going to need it talking about this one. No, we earned it. We earned it. Maybe we don't want it. By the way, we're want to know. If I mentioned that yet on this podcast, we're going to know. Let's just start off the fact that we're undefeated at this moment. We're a lot better than Florida State at this moment. So, you know, before we get into talking about the game, our wine this week is the Epic Estate Blend. And I think this is a 97 pointer. It is so good. It is a little more Vadra with a little bit of Glaciano and a little bit of Tempreneal and a little bit of Carignon. So, it's kind of a blend of a lot of our grapes from our vineyard. And it really is terrific. So, it's kind of the entry level wine that we have. And the reason, of course, we have it for this special week against Houston Christian is this is the week that we are opening up the Weber Enzone. So, on the SMU campus, our estate, we're having a statement. So, how's that? The first wine of Epic said I ever tried. And it is fantastic. Thank you very much. This is really proud of this wine. This wine, in one of our prior years, got top 25 wine in the world. And it's consistently rated really, really high. So, Mustang Nation, I know you're going to love it. So, let's have fun with it. So, hey, I'm in my office here in Dallas. And you are in Maine. So, we're doing this virtual one. This is your last week before, you know, kind of in the summer for you, right? Yes, this is the Vanderbilt podcast. You know, we wouldn't have had a game to talk about it. What a bunch of pansies. I mean, can you believe it? I mean, they're in the fucking SEC and they avoided this. I mean, you know what? They knew they couldn't have beaten us. I mean, that's the thing. Although the way we play, they might have been able to beat us. And they took a trip from Nashville from us. I mean, oh my God. And they can beat us maybe in their ACT scores, but they can't beat us on the football grid. I mean, I'm just saying, you know, so what? So, I'm in my office and I have my good friends here to help celebrate today. So, there's Peronich. You see Peronich. And then, of course, one of my very close personal friends, you all seen on the podcast, Eric, Bobblehead, and of course, my favorite player of all time, SMU, Doke. So, Doke, how do we play? How do we play on Saturday, Doke? Oh, it looks like a no. It looks like a no. Anyway. All right. You want to talk about the game? Yeah, if we must 29, 24, SMU comes away with the win in Reno. Fourth quarter deficit, they come back, they shut them out, 16, nothing to take the win over the Wolfpack. I was really impressed with Jeff Choats crew, but also disappointed in the way SMU came out. I know it's the first game. I know it's week zero. I know it's on the road. You don't know what you're going to get. But it just seemed like they were their minds were elsewhere early on. And it took a minute for them to obviously get it together and get going in the right direction. You know, your spot on, man. I mean, I was at the game. By the way, it was a shit weather game. I mean, it kind of reminded me of Boston College a little bit last year. I mean, it started off. It was rainy. It was windy. I think kickoff, it was like 49 degrees. I mean, it was cold. And I certainly wasn't dressed for the part. I was sitting there freezing my butt off on a field. And you're 100% right. We came out flat. We'd seen like we were uninspired. I don't know. It was like, I think we were reading our press. I think we came in over confident. I think we were reading the negative press on Nevada. And we just came out listless. And it was weird because, I mean, right out of the box, we get a nice hold to stop, you know, three and out. And then Preston Stone's first throw after being hurt last year, first throw of the year, it's picked off. And so you're just going, all right, well, that's a shit start. And then we kind of go from, you know, problem to problem. We have another turnover. It's not technically a turnover, but it's the mist fumbled punt snap. Yeah. And so we give them the ball inside the nine yard line. So we just give them their first score. And then, of course, later on in the game, we have, we've got them held, you know, fourth and 25. And then inexplicably, Brandon Crossley gets called for unsportional line conduct. I think the referee said that he actually spit on a Nevada player. And Brandon was saying, no way I would not have done that too. There's no way Brandon would do that. Now he is a, he is a, he is a fun trash talking guy. I mean, he is. Yeah. But on the same token, he would not have done that. And by the way, by the way, let's talk a little bit about Nevada. And I'll give back to the turnovers. A little bit about Nevada. We didn't know what we were going to get from Nevada. I mean, they, they were terrible last year. They fired their coach. They brought in a new coach. So we have a new head coach. They have 56 transfers. A lot of them were, you know, P5 transfers. They have a new offense coordinator. They have a new defense coordinator. So we didn't really know how to prepare for Nevada because we hadn't seen them before. So, you know, they knew what to expect from us. We did not know what to expect from them. What I think we probably misunderstood was the tenacity and the enthusiasm about which they came out. I got a statement. They're kind of thuggy. They're kind of like, you know, I mean, the stories that I heard on the sidelines of players. It was like six different players said they were spit upon, spat upon during the game. I mean, who does that? I mean, think about it in your life. Have you seen about it in your life? Okay. We've all been hit. We've all been hit with, you know, a punch or whatever. But have you ever been spit on? I mean, it is a gross thing. It's a demeaning thing. And Jordan Hudson, everybody saw it on TV. Jordan Hudson got spit on there in the first quarter, I think. And then he retaliated. And how does the guy almost not retaliate to that? I mean, obviously, obviously, Rhett chewed him out and said, hey, listen, you got to be able to take it, you know, blah, blah, blah. But it's such a surprise to be actually spat upon. And so then he wheeled off and hit the guy in Hellman. And then of course the other guy came over. And is it just me? But when the other team gets two personal fouls and you only get one, they're off setting. I don't know the math. Yeah, I couldn't. I, that one did not compute. I'm not a numbers guy, but, you know, just didn't make any sense to me at all. Yeah. So, uh, hey, Brandon Crossley, where's he didn't do it? No. Nobody saw him do it. I believe Brandon. Yeah, I do too. I do too. And Rhett kind of said the same today that, you know, they've gone through it. They, hey, we, you know, accept the calls of the official. You can't put yourself in that situation, but we haven't seen anything that, you know, all the different cameras that you has and all those things. It didn't, it didn't seem like something that actually happened. And, you know, I believe, I believe Brandon. And, and he was crying on the sideline too, before he had to get taken to the locker room. Uh, once they, you know, double kick them out. So I don't know. It's tough. You know, I, I tell you what, that had the potential of being such a momentum loser in the game for us. So that could have literally been a game changing penalty on us. Because we were starting to rally a little bit. We were starting to hold them. And then they go from, like, literally, it's like a fourth and 25 or something. Yeah. Punting. They get a first set of downs and a 15 yard penalty. And then they grind out the clock for like seven minutes. Yep. On this long drawn out drive, which by the way, the only play that appeared to be working for Nevada, the entire game was the quarterback draw. Oh, yeah. A hundred percent. I mean, they, they just kept playing, calling it and running it. And running it, I was actually frustrated that we couldn't adjust to, I mean, it was almost like we kind of know what they're going to run, guys. You know, anyway. So, um, I'm not really positive how I feel about Preston having two series and in KJ having a couple of series. I don't know. That's, that's a little bit. I haven't talked to Red about it. Um, and let's, let's, let's be frank. KJ outplayed Preston on, on his two series in the, in the first quarter. I mean, it's getting down to her touchdown. And, you know, he has that great ability to this, like act like he's going to run. I mean, pops up and then this hits a little flare. I mean, I love that about him. Yeah. So, um, because Preston had a tough half. I mean, it was basic. I mean, tough reads. He was, he was happy feet. He was unreasonable. Yeah. Yeah. It was like every time we got going to be in a penalty, you know, it was super, super disjointed offensively. And, and it's almost one of those things where you can't sit there and say, Oh, that, you know, the rotating hurt them. I mean, they rotated Kevin in and they went down the field and scored a touchdown drive. And it just, I think they made some adjustments offensively at halftime is pretty apparent. You know, they came out and just ran a different offense and went with Preston and, uh, it paid off. I mean, you know, Preston came out and was either missed or, you know, recalibrated and ready to go and, and they were able to make some plays. Yeah. No, Preston did have a good second half. He actually had a really good fourth quarter in half of the third quarter. But let's think about this, Billy. I mean, let's talk about the positives now. Okay. Um, we have 10 minutes to go in the game. We're down 11 on the road. They have the ball essentially at the 50 yard line. And we stop them. Then they punt to us and we get it on our own two. Yeah. With, with 10 minutes to go. And you know me, I mean, I was like fucking mad. I was, I mean, I'm sitting there thinking we're going to fucking lose to fucking Nevada. I mean, can you name is the ACC in the first game of the ACC? The guys had not quit, but you could just tell they were down and then, um, we just clicked. We just, we just got into a groove to think that we were two, two touchdowns behind essentially. You know, we have two scores to, you know, to get ahead and on the road. Getting our ass kicked in bad weather, et cetera, et cetera. Tons of shake calls. Um, and then we just bucked up. And we decided to win. And we go 98 yards with that frickin dime of a throw that pressed him through to our gym. Maryland. I mean, just beautiful. I mean, that was a, I would have to say kind of a low percentage call. And it worked because RJ did not have a good first half. But he had a, he had a first round draft. Sort of second half. By the way, was that, was that video at the beginning of this? Just hilarious. It was so good. I hope everybody watched that and laughed as hard as we did. Cause it was one of those things where it was kind of a relief in the locker room. And then to see RJ just fall right on his butt when he's throwing that, when he's slaying that sledgehammer. It kind of typified the game. I thought a little bit. Hey, I mean, I'm just everybody watching this podcast for the most part is just happy that they got to break the rock. I know. I've read after the game was like, I just, whoever wants it, I'm done with this game. Yeah, I know. It was one of those things. But then that's the result of this team. You know, I think having the experiences that they went through against Rice against Memphis last year, getting beaten certain games, you know, they, they do have that better and way about them. They didn't come out like it, but they finished like it. They really did, because you really knew that once they score, well, so then, and then of course we, they make that, you know, kind of a really terrible mistake with that must kick. And we get the ball up down there low and then all of a sudden we, we slapped him with a safety. I'm like going, holy shit, we're back. But then again, they, they kicked the ball to the frickin 17 yard line. Yeah. So we've got to go, we've got to go 83 yards on our next drive. You know, so now we had to, all we had to do is pick a field goal. But then of course pressing this throws, throws that unbelievably worse pass to RJ. If he doesn't, if they don't complete that pass, I think it was going to be fourth and eight and we were faced with a really long field. Yeah. So it was. Yeah. Yeah. And by the way, did I mention that I mentioned the fact that, so my, by three turnovers were the muff font, the interception and then Brandon getting called for the, so we really have three turnovers, and then we had that missed field. We had that missed. Yeah. You made the, you made the one was 52, then missed that. Into the wind. The 52 was the end of the win. The one with the win and I was sitting there thinking, this is not our night. This is not our night. But hey, let's talk about the positive takeaways. Okay, there's not a lot of them, but let's talk about the positive takeaways. Isaiah will come, you have played lights out. Yep. Him and Jonathan McGill. Awesome. Yep. Awesome. I think he had 13 tackles. Isaiah did. I mean, he's on his way to the NFL if he plays the way he is this season. And he was out for a lot of fall camp. I know, I know it. He's got such good attitude. I talked to him a long time today at practice, and he's just, he's in such a good place. So anyway, love it. We have a really sick running back in Smith. Yeah. I mean, he is fast and he is quick. And I mean, he was really, I think he had over 100 yards all purpose yards, right? Yep, 141 between that rushing, receiving and the kick return game, which, hey, outside of, you know, Will Benton, who's very reliable as a long snapper, special teams look pretty good too. Okay. I'm going to, I'm going to pick up on with you on that. I don't, I disagree. Because we had, well, we'd fumbled on the, on the, the punt, right? Right. Right. Will snapped it. He's been right. Right. Okay. You know, we, we, we duck hooked a field goal. And we got one. Okay. Okay. But we missed it. And then we have, like 11, 12 men on the field once, I think, and I mean, there was. I, I, I think if you would have said kick off return, I would say yes. I thought we did a really nice job on kickoff return. I didn't like the way we feel the ball on the punt. I mean, a lot of times we just let the ball set a running up and catching a short kick. You know, we would bet, we would back away from it and then it rolls 20 yards. You know, I mean, we never got those kind of breaks, you know, the whole game where, you know, you wouldn't like the ball, but bounce out of bounds or, you know, stop like a, you know, a, you know, Bryson, the Shambo wedge, you know, instead of the rolls, you know, 20 yards. So we were not getting any breaks. So obviously Preston's second half was, was a highlight and our, an RJ show, RJ showed the hands that he has there. Good. Okay. Let's talk about the negatives. And that's a lengthy list. Okay. We've already talked about the fact that we were undisciplined with, with all the mistakes. We have 120 yards on penalties, something like that. We, I thought our offensive line get kind of pushed around a little bit. I was a little bit surprised. I mean, I couldn't believe that the fact that our wide receivers couldn't seem to get open. Yeah. I mean, one of the strongest things we have on our team is the fact that we have this plethora of great receivers and really, when you get right down to it, it was just RJ, our tight end. Yeah. You know, was the lion's share and, and what's the kid from Michigan who's our other tight end? I mean, he and I had a nice ball and great young man. But our wide receivers kind of hardly sewed up. Yeah. I was the wide receiver piece. I mean, Romelo and Jordan Hudson got to be the top two guys. They got to get more targets. They spread it around, you know, between Kevin and Preston to all the different guys. But it just, it's not enough. And I don't know if it's a route thing in terms of what they're being asked to do or timing with the quarterbacks. But we got to, there's got to be more down the field shots to guys like Romelo and Jordan Hudson. They're, they're too big and physical to not get those. Tell me about that. And I think they were just playing a man-to-man. So it wasn't like they had some scheme that came out. Now the players were telling me on the sidelines that they were grabbing their jersey like on every play, which is one of the reasons they couldn't hook up with Preston and them because the timing was off because they were just so grabby and whatever. And you know, the officiating court didn't seem to call. So by the way, it just seemed like every frickin' play there was a flag. It just, you know, it just seemed that way to you at home. Well, at the, at the, at the game, I was like, it just seemed like anything that happened, you'd say, okay, where's the flag? You know, any other broadcast that's even worse than the officiating. Well, that's what I heard the broadcast thing was terrible. So I'm still kind of glad I didn't watch it. But hey, man, we won. Okay. So, you know, there's a big, this could have been like Boston College, you know, where you know, where, you know, we did kind of didn't dominate the boxwork, but we kind of did. I mean, we're, you know, 30% more yards, you know, first downs, you know, they had more time at the session because they mostly ran the ball. They were just milking it. They were taking it all the way down, too. Yeah. Yeah. So, so anyway, those are the negatives. My phone was blown up while I was on the field and of course, ever since then, about, you know, all the negative stuff so that, you know, people talk about, I'm not going to panic. This is just first game of the season. This is why you don't put a ball-busting game early in your season because you get your balls busted. Just ask the Florida State how they feel about they probably thought they had an easy game in Georgia Tech, another one won. Well, and I think they're suing the Republic of Ireland is what I hear. They've added them all, yeah, that was, that's why you need social media. You would, you would thrive on some of it. But I send you enough of them, but social media and me don't get along. It's just like, you know, the level of negativity is just driving crazy. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Hey, speaking of flipping it back to the positives, it's, it's a huge week. We've got behind the scenes footage for our dozens of fans on the Gary Webber and Zone Complex. And I'm sure you want to tell us a little bit about, about it as well. Okay. So yes, first of all, before we go into the Gary Webber and Zone Complex, let's talk about next week's game. We're playing Houston Christian and I don't have any comments other than in fact, let's just win and let's just put it away easy. Yeah, let's get, let's get a lot of time for KJ and even for Kendrick Luster to come in and play. Let's really dislike put them away early and Nevada, there was an excuse because they are, you know, legitimate, you know, program, not the time saying he's not, but I mean, I just think we need to just put them away and then it's getting on with life. So home game, the players are psyched and here's why they're psyched. We opened the Gary Webber complex last night and it was absolutely so spectacular. So I walked, I walked on this podcast, a little camera angle of what it was like empty before they showed up and then show it to the locker room. Guys, it is truly probably top five as far as locker rooms and weight room facilities in the entire country. It's absolutely spectacular. Not even like a little bit spectacular, but really spectacular. And then when the team ran in, I guess it wasn't last night, it was night before last, ran in and saw it. It was like, it really reminds you, even though these young men look like big men and whatever, they're still kids because they were, it was like Christmas morning as they came in and saw their, their locker for the first time and they saw the weight room. They all had their cameras, they were taking pictures of everything. It was fun. I actually had tears in my eyes, you know, because I've been involved with this thing since the beginning and it's amazing. So we put together like a, about a five minute video at the end of this that showed you the reactions of everybody. And I think Mustang Nation, you're just going to smile. If you're not going to smile on this, then I can't help you, you know, it's, it's, it's that good. And I just want to say too, thank you Gary Webber because this is a, this is a game changer for SMU and it really is that spectacular. So I say, Billy, I think we're done here. I mean, you just wanted to let it roll. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Great. Yeah. And make sure you go out and buy a pointy express case. You want to be one of the quickest. Wait, it was it. It is. It is. Oh, God, yeah. How did that just happen? Oh, I have no idea. I got to get it before. All right. Yeah. All right. All right. A lot of fireworks, a lot of fireworks expected on the hilltop on Saturday is the whole opener. Used to Christian SMU 7PM central, get it on the ACC network extra. So new perk for ACC and SMU fans there. So check it out by a pony express case, epic wines.com/pony for bill on Billy. And without further ado, enjoy this special look at the Gary Webber end zone complex. And thank you, Gary Webber. Thank you, Bill, for all you do. That's good. Good. Everyone will catch you guys next time. All right. Great. First day, Nathan, I'm going to give you a sneak peek of the brand new weight room in the Webber end zone. Or as I like to call it, football's spa, gym and wellness center, prepare to be blown away. All right. Coming off the field, you walk into the new weight room, and this is what you're, what you're walking on. Coming on some AstroTurf coming in and you see this simply massive, magnificent room with all the weights, with all the cardio machines. I mean, this thing has got to be at least five times bigger than what we used to have in the old Lloyd Center. Absolutely incredible. All of that people say that have been all around the country, they say this is the number one weight room they have seen anywhere in major college football. It is absolutely stunning, and it's clean, and it is spacious, and frankly, it is the best in the country. So to see how far we've come, since where we were, that this is the kind of thing that is going to be magnificent for recruiting, and also for keeping our players super happy and make them stronger and better. So welcome to it. You can see it going through here, that was all the weights, just went on and on, going back and back here, go through the area where they get treated for injuries and whatnot, and then the locker room. I'll show you that in a minute. So the players come off the practice field outside, where you see them out there off of Mockingbird. And down this AstroTurf to go kind of underneath the complex, they walk in, and then they come down this ramp, and they said they're going to use this ramp to rehab people and to punish them for not going class, whatever the heck that means, they're going to make them run up and down, then from here, they go right into the weight room, that's how we have room to the right, we just showed you, and here you walk out, and go right onto the field. This is where the players are going to come onto the field game day, right out onto Ford Field. It's going to be a spectacular, okay right now we're walking down the hallway to go into the locker room. The team is coming over here at like any moment for the first time to see they're new lockers. You get a sneak preview before they even the players do. This has to be one of the greatest locker rooms in the country. And here's where all the players are obviously red, give them game plans, etc., and up top there is like a game video room. It is sick. Man, can I come back to college? Of course I'd have to be an athlete, which maybe I wasn't in my mind, but not in reality. I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable, and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable. I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable, and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable, and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable, and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable, and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable and I'm going to be a little bit more comfortable
