It's another edition of Wral Triangle and two. I Mark Berg and he's Luis Fernandez. We're gonna do a quick recap and look ahead of the Triangle teams with college football but Lewis first, we start Bryce Young and the Panthers falling in week one to the Atlanta Falcons right off the bat. How do you think Bryce Young did in his debut for the Panthers on Sunday? He looked like a rookie starting his first NFL game on the road. You, you know, like you're polite. IIII I don't think there's really, I my expectations for the Panthers this season is to just continue to grow and get better as the, as the year moves on. Um I don't think he had a whole lot of help. Um, you know, that Panthers offense did not look fantastic, but I mean, it's once again, it's week one and I, I think it's the, what you, if you are a Panthers fan, what you wanna see out of Bryce Young is continued growth over the course of the year. Week one should not matter in the grand scheme of things. You just want to see continued growth. So you have week one. Now, now you need week two to be better. That's, that's how I view it. Here's where I look at this, Lewis. I say this, none of the rookie quarterbacks won in their debut on Sunday. So Anthony Richardson loses CJ. Stroud loses if you flipped Bryce Young and put him on this Atlanta Falcons team with Desmond Ritter. I think they'd be better off. And to me it was like the Falcons have a really nice 12 punch with Al Geer in the backfield and then Bejon Robinson, the rookie out of Texas. And that to me was really the big difference in the game on Sunday. I, I do have uh a lot of stocks in, in Tyler Algiers. So I'm, I'm pretty, I'm pretty happy with, with his performance and, you know, the offense is the offense that Arthur Smith runs is very creative, um, in its running game, especially, uh it plays to its personnel, which I think is important. But yeah, I mean, if you want, if you want to look at this from a grand scheme of things perspective, as long as Desmond Ro is starting quarterback for the Falcons, I think the Panthers are gonna be just fine, you know, like, 00, ok. He was not, he was, what was it? It was like early on he was like two, he's like three of five for like zero yards and a touchdown. Like I like, ok, like that, I, I just, I very much the NFC South right now. It just looks, it's exactly kind of how we expect it to look. Everyone's struggling a little bit but it's, it's always so hard. I never try to overreact with week one because it's week one and you see Super Bowl winning teams lose in week one all the time. You see, you know, teams that look great in week one and they finish with a top five pick. It, it's just, it's, it's week one of the NFL season. It is what it is. Yeah, Desmond Ritter only had like 24 passing yards at halftime of this game. This is, this is the national football league. Yeah. What are we doing? Yeah. Now Bryce Young's longest completion in only 14 yards. Like, I'd like to see the Panthers move the ball down the field. Now, I understand that you got to protect the football and your guy, Jesse Bates getting two interceptions on Bryce Young in the opener, but stretch the field like throw it up to Mingo when in doubt, throw it up to Mingo. See what happens. Maybe you draw a pass interference penalty. But, uh, and this is where going into the season, it was like the panther skill position players. There's more to be desired in trying to ensure that Young has success. I don't know if you're gonna get that this season, but to me moving the ball down the field, I say you know, your 14 yard is, is your longest completion if you're young. Uh, he, he's finishes the game 20 to 38 passing for 100 and 46 yards. Uh, we'll remember it as the opener in Atlanta, but, uh, other than his touchdown pass, um, we'll see him play better football at some point in the 2023 season. Agreed. When you don't have the type of like skill position, uh, talent to really take the top off of a defense, it compresses everything and that's what we saw happen with the Panthers offense. Um, and when it's compressed like that, it, it makes it more difficult to play quarterback. Um So you just want to see growth from Bryce Young. You want to see the team continue to grow and then you want to either hope that someone like Jonathan Mingo, uh, develops into that kind of talented outside threat or, you know, that's what next offseason is for. So, not that we're, they're still say week two is must win for me just given the statistical probability. No, no, no. You say this and that's fine. It's the reality of your statistical probability. If you dig yourself an 02 hole to make the playoffs, the odds are against you point blank period. Lewis that, I mean, that's fair. 002 is tough hole, but it's also in the context of the NFC South. I think that's important. Um, but also like then, then once again that comes to the expectations. Like, if your expectations for the Carolina Panthers this year are to make the playoffs, then. Yes, I understand how next week is a must win. That is not what my expectations for the Carolina Panthers are. So, you know, it is what it is. Don't try, try not to lose. Um, but I mean, what Saints on Monday night, right. It, it's not, the Saints didn't exactly look like, you know, this juggernaut an offense gotta have it, you gotta have it in week two, gotta have it in week two. Let's keep this rolling. UN C survives in double overtime against App State on Saturday, Lewis. I want, would appeal to your Tar Heel fandom here, your UN C alum, you shake your head every, every week to me. Here's what this game was like. Back to back years of just bizarre, crazy finishes watching UN C and at State play, it's like smoking a pack of cigarettes and running a marathon at the same time. It is not good for you. Like, are you thrilled that UN C doesn't have apps data on the schedule in 2024? Because I get anxiety watching this. I don't even have a dog in the fight. There are just like there are some games that you see on a schedule and you can circle and say that's gonna be something like there's, you know, whether it be matchups or whether it just be history. Those kind of games always exist. Matt Brown said after the game he's, oh, I'm happy that we're done with, you know, apps stay on the schedule and he's joking in that. Um, I don't think he is. Well, I mean, he, he's not, he said it in a joking manner, he's not joking, but he said it in a joking manner if that makes sense. He even says it today during his news conference that he thought Sean Clark did more with his roster than that UN C did that, that he did with the UN C and, and I, and I agree, I think that it's when you're in, when you're in those kind of games, right? It's the way, uh, back Brown has kind of phrased. It is all the pressure is on UN C to win that game versus for apps. They do anything, they get to kind of play free, they get to play loose. I think that's fair. I also think the good teams though do not feel that pressure because they understand that they are better. That's kind of how I view it. I mean, it, it's like the, the best, the, the teams that are always like in that kind of conversation with the college football playoff, the cream of the crop in college football for better or worse. A lot of times they do not really play that many difficult teams in the nonconference schedule. Um, app state is always someone who's gonna bring it, especially against UN C, I mean, it's, it's the same thing when, like NC State and ECU play each other at the beginning of last year. You saw that day in the schedule. You're like, all right. Well, that's gonna be quite a challenge in the first week and ECU almost pulls off the upset, just like apps, they almost pull off the upset this week. Um, so, yeah, it's just whenever you have those kind of local rivalries, it makes the game. Uh it, it, it makes the game always a little more interesting. Uh And I think too, like it, it's just, it's more fun. I love when you have those types of things in college, in college athletics, I think from the perspective of like a college football fan 100% like, let's just do like a round robin of just local teams playing each other, uh in nonconference. That would be so much fun. Uh If you are a UN C fan though, I think you're like, ok, time to move on. You're thrilled deep down. If we gave Luis Fernandez truth serum, you were thrilled that uh UN C survives. And I, I wanna say this, I hope this doesn't become a trend again of Drake man. The offense having to bail out the defense because I wrote down in my notes and this has been a theme going into this season for the tar heels is will the defense prevent Drake May from being at that Heisman trophy ceremony later on in the season and you give up 34 points to a state, what defense shows up compared to what we saw in the opener against South Carolina. Then you know, this upcoming weekend against Minnesota. How, how do you respond to that? And it's a Minnesota team that comes into Chapel Hill also with the two and zero record. Well, I think part of this too, right is II, I don't think the defense would prevent Drake May from getting to the Heisman. If anything, I think it's gonna be the UN C play calling that does not in that it's bad but agree to disagree there. Well, not, no, not that UN C play calling is bad by any means, but that there is not an emphasis on making sure Drake May gets numbers. That's, that's just the simple, plain truth of it. Um You know, uh Matt Brown was talking today in his Monday press conference and he said, you know, we're gonna do whatever we can to win games. So if that means Oar and Hampton, Oar and Hampton running for 232 yards or whatever it was, then that's what it is. If that, that means Drake May pulling the ball and running in for a touchdown versus trying to throw something, then that it is what it is. I think part of it too is like Un c it was, it's kind of two fold. I thought the defense is definitely playing better this year than it did last year. But it's about playing at its best. Right. So they, I mean, a, a has like a 19 play drive at one point that could have been stopped so many times early on in the process. You can't let that extend because that's exactly what a state wants to do. They wanna play ball control. They want to keep the ball away from Drake May and essentially put that, you want the offense and position or if it's not executing every single drive, they're not being able to keep up and they're just playing, keep away and you have to try and catch up to abate. That's essentially the trap that UN Z fell into. And it's gonna be interesting to see if they learn from that because Minnesota is gonna do something a lot similar where they're gonna play tough defense, they're gonna play ball control and he's gonna have to take advantage of each possession. So the offense has to step up and the defense has to step up as well. Yeah, Hampton going past that 200 yard mark in the win over a stayed a terrific performance by the running back. You get more than 100 yards from British Brooks in the opener against South Carolina and we'll see again, uh, a good opponent in Minnesota and always a very respectable team. Coming into Chapel Hill and Brown and Brown did say that he, they are hopeful that British Brooks will be back uh in the rotation for the game. This Saturday. You gotta feed the hot hand though. You gotta feed the Absolutely. Uh Lewis to Raleigh where NC State fell to Notre Dame. Your boy was in the building. Uh It appeared at one point, the scoreboard was zapped but then it wasn't zapped. They did get the scoreboard back on and functioning. Uh Spent $15 million. It looked very good. I'll say this, this weather delay, it was a little bit more than 90 minutes. We had to go into PNC arena to take shelter. It really changed the vibe of the game going into the stadium. Everyone. It was packed, sell out loud and then it's like the first or second play from scrimmage, Notre Dame rips off a long touchdown run and it was the very first play back from the weather delay. Very first play. There was a sequence though Lewis and I've got it charted out in our notes where I thought there was the game. We hung in the balance and NC State just didn't take advantage. Yeah. No, I, I think that's fair because I mean, it was at the very beginning of the fourth quarter, it's a one possession game. NC State gets the ball back and there's turnovers, but I was, well, we could point to the turnovers. Lewis. Uh third quarter. Right. So you go into this game, it's a seven point spread. Notre Dame came as the number ninth team in the country and NC State's got the ball in the Notre Dame 48. It's 1/4 and sixth. The offense goes on the field. It's like, oh my gosh, they're down 10, they're gonna go for it. NC State takes a time out punts after the time out and it's like if you were just gonna punt the ball, take the false start penalty. So NC State's defense goes out, gets a three and out gets the ball back and they drive down the field again this time, they get it to the Notre Dame 31 4th and two and they decide we're gonna kick a field goal to cut it 17 to 10, which is fine because you take a two score game to a one score game. But at that point it's like why not try to go for it because you knew Hartman and the offense were gonna score again. They go down and do that. So then you're down 24 to 10. NC State roars back gets a touchdown. They get a strip sack of Hartman, which was the loudest I heard the stadium all day even during the sellout, even though all the fans didn't come back after the weather delay. They miss a field goal in the ensuing drive. I'm not sure you can go for it on fourth and nine in the red zone, but to get the turnover and then not get any points to cut into Notre Dame's seven point deficit right then and there of to say, ok, on fourth and six at midfield down 10, let's go for it. Let's draw up our best play and if we miss, we miss or on the drive before where they settle for a field goal deep in Notre Dame possession, it's fourth and two and you say, no, no, no, no, we're gonna put our field goal unit on like if you're gonna knock out the heavyweight Lewis, you got to throw some haymakers and it didn't happen on Saturday. I know that because I was in the building, you could feel it in the stadium. Well, and that's so I, I think too often it, it's, it should not be about playing, not to lose, it needs to be playing to win. Um And, and I think what often happens is we don't look at possessions in a football game as important as they are. Um You know, especially when you have like an offense that you were going up against like Notre Dame, they're going to possess the ball, they're gonna go down, they're gonna score points. So it's about making timely stops and scoring points on your own end as well. And so you have to look at each possession as incredibly important and pivotal and trying to get as many points as you can out of it. Yeah, I, I agree. I'm always, if you were deep in a team's territory, especially in college football, if it is 1/4 and manageable in my mind, you at least need to think about going for it. So, um, I, I would like to see NC State's offense be more aggressive. I thought that that was a little bit of what we were gonna get with the new look, kind of, you know, Brendan Armstrong Robert and I offense, we're still gonna need some more time to see. But I mean, obviously now that you lose Notre Dame, it kind of sets up the rest of the schedule in a totally different way. The good news for NC State is they have VM I who should not pose a problem for them on Saturday. You would think so. And it's tough because Notre Dame, you could just tell we're just bigger, I mean, hit some big, big dudes and they limited NC State to 84 yards rushing in this one on 30 carries and then Armstrong 22 of 47. I mean, he's trying to make plays but it just, it, it wasn't enough. You'll get to regroup this week against BM I, but there was an opportunity in that game and, and maybe it's a little bit different if the weather delay doesn't happen and you get that raucous home crowd to rally your team to the one thing I will say about NC state the way they get their sidelines hyped, they always say the sideline tells the story that's contagious. And I honestly think every program should take notes on that of and it's a lot of the players that, you know, that aren't going to get into the game, but they're going nuts, cheering their teammates on. That's very contagious in terms of the energy that, that brings to the players that are on the field. Well, and that's what we saw with the first few possessions of that game, right, that defense and that defensive line in particular were controlling the line of scrimmage. They were feeding off that energy. Uh Yeah, I don't know, it's, I, I feel like it's kind of the same old, same old way that we're seeing with State. And so, um, you know, it, it is not the end of their season by any means losing Notre Dame, but, you know, now is the time where you start to, you need to take these next few weeks to really get more in tune offensively and then try and run through the AC C or do the best you can in the AC C. Two other things I noticed to Lewis, uh guys with NFL futures, Joe alt, the left tackle for Notre Dame is gonna be a first round pick in this year's draft. He just completed his assignment every single play. There was nothing that was like, whoa, but massive, massive human and in a one on one scenario, he just never lost. And then Benjamin Morrison who had one interception, he had a personal foul which led to an NC State score several penalties on the Irish, but he had an interception very nearly had two in this game. What I noticed with him and he was coming off a freshman year, we had six interceptions also as an NFL future, his positioning was as good as any defensive back I've seen at a college level Lewis. So just two players I noticed where it's just like, uh you know, alt in the 2024 class and then Morrison further down the line, I want to make note of their contributions of players that we got to see in our backyard in Raleigh here this past weekend, Lewis. I like it. You wanna move on to Duke? Yes. Yes. Lastly, Duke is gonna try to continue its winning ways this weekend against Northwestern, coming off a win against Lafayette Lewis. We live in a world where Duke is ranked and NC State is not like, it's just, it's crazy. Well, I mean, Mike, Mike Elco has done a really good job with that program. Um And, and they've, they've continued to be consistent. Um you know, they're, they're, they're not gonna mess around you, you know what's going on, what's going on with Duke. Um And I, I don't think this is like, I mean Clemson, so for those who are not paying attention. Clemson was tied with Charleston Southern uh in at the end of the first quarter, 14, 14, but then pulled away with it. So I, I think Clemson is still figuring itself out, but that's still an incredibly impressive win for Duke, both as a team and as a program. Um And so I, I think the Blue Devils are, are really set up well for the rest of the season, they still have a lot of very challenging games um for a state, I believe as well. Um They play some games on the road, um some AC C matchups on the road that are gonna be difficult at UN C so like Duke's whole thing was, their schedule is really hard this year, but they have been answering the tests that they've been facing so far. Um They look complete and uh you just gotta give credit where credit is due and the, the blue are, are, you know, in a great position that no one thought that they were going to have the success that they had last year. Um And I think, uh no one also thought that they were going to be able to be sitting here after two weeks of college football at two and oh, everyone was worried about Lafayette. I don't know, I don't know what the maybe Clemson who's, who's worried about Clemson. Um But now, yeah, now the, the Blue Devils are gonna be in a good spot to uh um II I think they should be able to handle Northwestern without question. Yeah, Northwestern this weekend in Durham. And then you go and play uh Connecticut and you play Notre Dame. So two teams, NC State has already played. What can you gather from the tape of those games and how Duke plays those games compared to how NC State plays those games is gonna make for some interesting conversations here on Wrl Triangle to in the coming weeks, Lewis. So can you, can you imagine a world where both Duke and Notre Dame are undefeated going into that matchup? Feels pretty, feels pretty likely who, who does Notre Dame played between now and then? Uh, let me take a look but that game will be in Durham. Bring co listen, bring college game day to Durham. I know it's not hoop season but we'd love to see it here in the Triangle. Lewis. We take a look. Not, they, they have to play, they have to play Ohio State. Notre Dame does before then. So who knows, who knows what that's gonna look like? But uh, hey college games back to back, back to back weeks at Notre Dame football games, Lewis. That's interesting. That's interesting. I I in all seriousness though to how Riley Leonard shakes out in the quarterback race and I see his name being mentioned among the top quarterback prospects in the 2024 class too. Can they keep that role in, uh, again yet another test this upcoming weekend in what's been a very, very impressive start for the Blue Devils, regardless of how good or bad Clemson is, which we really don't know to this point, man, it's been, it's been such a fun season to start though, Lewis. And so, uh, you know, we'll do it all over again next weekend to, uh, and I cannot wait. I was very excited to talk to you about all of these games today. Lewis. Yeah, I'm thi this is, it's been a really fun college football season so far, still got a lot to go. Um And I think my favorite thing is just i it's, it's hard to kind of look at the college football landscape and be like, yep, that's the team like you, Georgia, even Georgia doesn't really seem like Georgia, Alabama losing to Texas. Um, you know, Ohio State has not looked very dominant, you know, US C has looked good, but US C also hasn't really played anyone. Um There's just, I feel like there is a lot of opportunity for a lot of different teams this year and I'm, I'm just excited to see how it continues to shake out, especially as we get deeper and deeper into uh conference play. He's Luis Fernandez, I'm Mark Berg. And this has been another edition of WRL Triangle two, subscribe on the 99 9, the fan youtube page. Give us a five star review, Apple Stitch or Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'll go ahead and sign off here for the both of us for Luis Fernandez. I'm Mark Bergan. Thank you for watching another edition of WRL Triangle Two. We'll see you next time. Take care so long, everyone.