Rocky: 0:34

Good evening, everybody. Welcome to another live edition here on The Rock Pile here. The Rock Pile brings you inside Utica University Football Podcast, episode number nine here tonight on The Rock Pile. If you're tuning in across all social media platforms wherever you watch the shows, make sure you hit subscribe, put in some comments. It's always nice to go back and look through and see some of the comments that everybody posts for us. We'll bring Coach Foz on here in just a moment. We're going to talk last week's game against Alford. We'll preview this coming week's game against St. John Fisher. We'll go through some of Coach's picks. He's one up on me to uh coming into this week. I got some big games, so hopefully we'll disagree on some picks. Um, we'll get into some of those and I'll ask Coach maybe some more coaching topics here going on across the national scene, that and much more. So without further ado, let's pull coach on now. Let me fix us, coach. Get us on here. How are we doing tonight?

Coach Faggiano: 1:33

Episode nine to tell you the season goes quick, huh, Rock?

Rocky: 1:36

Isn't it crazy? I know I said to you last week, I said, geez, can you believe that we're down to like what three games left? Two after this week for you. Yeah, crazy. Goes fast. Man. So, coach, you had the bye week. We talked a little bit about um, you know, the bye week for you and um you know all the preparation. You guys got off to a really good start, you know, this past week against Alfred.

Coach Faggiano: 2:00

You know, I think it was just really critical um that we come out. And uh the guys are able to do that, you know. So you know, we we're we're a big defer team. And uh, you know, Alfred wins the toss, they defer. And you know, first drive offense goes down the field. Um, we decide to kick a field goal, get some points in the board. And that's wild. And um, I might be a little bit off here, but then we had uh maybe I'm off on that, but we we had a field goal early, and then we um maybe the field goal came off to tip pass for their first offensive play. Uh Mason Ranwitz tips a pass, Eli Douglas interceptions. That's a great way to kind of start the game. And then I'm trying to remember whether we had points on. I think that maybe that's where we got the field goal. And then um uh, you know, it's so funny. I'm so focused on Fisher right now to go back to coach, you guys got a lot. Sometimes our people we can't yeah, we came out firing an all-cylinder, so it was um a really good way to come out of the bye. We like traveling overnight. You know, we've got this uh Italian family that caters our dinner in a VFW, that's kind of our style. And uh I just had a real you know, had a really good trip overall.

Rocky: 3:10

Yeah, and coach, you guys really from a statistical category, I mean you guys had 30 points in in just the first half, but you know, you guys had 500 over 500 yards of offense. You held out for two, I think just a tad over 200, like 201, 202. Um, you held their round game ground game under 100 yards. I think they had 55 yards rushing. So you guys dominated just about every statistical comment out there, and then time of possession. I think you guys were over like 35 minutes um that you guys had the ball.

Coach Faggiano: 3:37

So we did we actually had 11, like almost 12 more minutes than than they did. It's just huge. So in all those categories from the third downs to time of possession, we were successful. Um again, it's the guy the guys are just built, you know, bought into the game plan. You know, I think one of the things that was you know, we haven't done it in a bit, we scored on defense, which was huge. You know, Mason Payton, you know, comes boom, punches the ball out. Mason miscarriage we have a lot of Masons in the team who laugh about it, picks it up, rambles in for our first defensive score. But it was nice is every time we had a turnover, uh offense was you know capitalized on that. And you can see those in the games, you go back to WJ at RPI, Alfred State, some of these other big games, other games that we won, we were able to do that. We crop create some turnovers, give our offense the opportunity. And we always talk on defense, it's always our job to give the ball back to the offense. I think it's really difficult to keep any college football team under 300 yards, yeah, you know, let alone a tough, well-coached uh Alfred team at their place. You know, uh that talk about that all the time. They have a lot of history, a lot of tradition, very well-coached team. And um, you know, uh, I'll tell you what, you know, from an offensive standpoint, our offensive line played very well. We had multiple rushing touchdowns. Uh Azeek Aze averaged over five yards a carry. Frazier, our running back, and he had a touchdown. Janai Strong had a touchdown. We had a Tush push touchdown, our first one of the year with Tyler Zolkowski. If you were watching online, we had a Raven package, and then uh just you know, Tyler in the pocket. We did a really nice job picking up their pressures, staying in the pocket, delivering the ball downfield. Um, you know, Logan Frederick had another huge day. Um, I guess across the country, people aren't using the tight ends in Division III. You know, very fortunate he had a second D3Football.com other player of the you know, that's our fifth honor of that this year. So um, you know, I give credit to our SID, just giving them the information, our players uh putting out those types of statistics, and you can see where our guys match up across the country. So, you know, Logan Frederick, uh local guy at a little fall. So again, he had another big game as well.

Rocky: 5:43

Coach, how much is that? I feel like we we talked a little bit about, I think it was the homecoming game when you introduced this uh this Raven package, you know, you guys have had, and you guys have been using it here over the last couple weeks. But I feel like the run game itself um has picked up over the last two to three weeks. And I know you mentioned you know, Frazier had uh over five yards of carry. I think he ended with just under 100 yards on 17 carries, but I feel like the run game's gotten better each week for you guys.

Coach Faggiano: 6:09

Well, it has, you know, and I think you know there's there's times to RPO and there's times to call a run. You know what I mean? And I think we've done a good job of balancing that. You know, the RPO certainly keeps defenses off balance, the you know, the quarterback's reading a defender and the run pass option, and then sometimes just you know you gotta just gotta hand the thing off and get yourself in good good positions and and and good numbers in the blocking schemes. And I think we do a good job of of you know a variety of formations. I think that's one thing that's challenging when you're playing us is we do run a ton of formations and and trying to find the uh the advantage in the numbers in that, you know what I mean, and seeing how teams align. Um, but uh loved our physicality. Uh you know, wasn't happy with our penalties to go right to that. Like I wasn't really happy with the penalties. Um that that's really kind of created some momentum for for Alfred, you know, and uh uh you know got it, you know, gave them some momentum, got a little hairy there for a second. Um, you know, uh but we and we battled, you know, battled back and and and kept control of the game, which I was I was proud of. Our guys really enjoy playing together, and they really haven't gotten flustered, you know what I mean? And they understand their team's playing too, and their team prepares too, and you know, they're gonna make some plays. But uh, you know, to have you know, we think we had two sacks, um, you know, all the three interceptions that scored on defense, uh, the pass breakups, like uh, you know, we were you know, Coach J Max got them flying around and uh and they're playing well as a unit.

Rocky: 7:34

And coach, going back to that Raven package too, for you guys, you scored, you were in the red zone. I think it was six times you scored on all six red zone trips. But again, I feel like that Raven package makes it even tougher to defend. How much does that help you guys for these teams putting a pressure on that? Now they got to defend the quarterback run as well for you guys in the red zone.

Coach Faggiano: 7:52

I mean, that's who that's huge. And I think as the season's gone on, we've we've kind of expanded on that package. So it's not just the same, you know, kind of same base three plays. We mix it, mix it up and um, you know, trying to keep the defenses honest, you know. And uh, Alfred actually stuck, you know, first time I think all year, Alfred actually stuffed us on one um on a fourth and one. I mean, Tyler makes a great play. We had a I think it was like maybe fourth and ten. Um, we were gonna quick kick. There was enough time on the clock, so we tried to get him to jump, and Tyler uh went back up and tried to do it. We had time to do it a second time and actually got them to jump a second time. And then no, I think it was fourth and like six because it got to fourth and two or whatever it was, or fourth and seven. And we and they actually Alfred stuffed us on one. So um that's firstly you guys have a lot of confidence in that package, our offensive line, the tight ends, those guys. So um that's certainly been uh a big positive for us when you have to get get some yards, be able to put those big guys in there and and let them have, and you pick up the quarterback as a as a digit and the running back as a blocker for him is big.

Rocky: 8:55

And coach, you mentioned Tyler. Tyler had another game where he threw for over 300 yards for you guys, and you know, he's been accurate all year, but fourth game of the season, he's thrown for over 300 yards for you guys, leads the league uh in passing and passing touchdowns.

Coach Faggiano: 9:09

You know, I know at one point, I don't know where we are now. At one point, I thought we were in the top top in the country, maybe even top five in the country at one point. I think at one point I thought I thought I was at second, but that was before the Morrison game. So we were we ran the ball a lot more. But you know, you know, as the year goes on, all those, you know, the stats, you start to see them. And um, you know, the kids all know, like we try to, you know, that's all great. It's great, you know, being able to represent the university at a national level, but really we just got to focus on on the game. It's crazy. You know, you don't get to enjoy the wins long. You want to enjoy them because it's hard to win a college football game. You don't get to enjoy them long, and it's right back to work again, you know.

Rocky: 9:46

And Coach, you mentioned the defense, you know, the secondary with three interceptions, Mason John, and then um Eli had interception for you guys, but you guys held their quarterback, Chris Kelly, who at came in the game averaging over 179 yards passing. You held him the 23 yards passing uh and had the three interceptions. That secondary was flying around. They've been flying around for you all season that back end.

Coach Faggiano: 10:09

The secondary played played played very well. Um, you know, uh we definitely had pressure on him. He was hard to sack because he they do a nice job of getting rid of the ball pretty quickly. Um, but uh, you know, our D-line was physical up front, our linebackers played played well. Um the guy the guys were hungry. They came out of that bye, rested and hungry, knowing that, you know, hey, there's some things out there for us in this season, and and every win or every game and every win gets us closer to some of those goals uh that we have.

Rocky: 10:38

And Coach, we talked last week is the last three games here. This schedule, the let next two out of three games for you guys against some really good. I know every week's a tough week. I'm not overlooking um Hartwick, but I'm looking at the schedule. You get Fisher, who we'll talk about here in a few minutes, and then you know, you go Hartwick at home, and then your last game of the season, I think you guys go to Brockport's that's right at the top of the conference as well. So you guys, next two out of three weeks, um, tough, tough games ahead.

Coach Faggiano: 11:02

I mean, it'll certainly be interesting because you know Brockport Brockport's playing Cortland uh next week, right? So we'll know the result of that before we play Brockport. Cortland plays Ithaca in their last week of the season. So it's gonna be right down to the wire to see what what's in store for for the for the Pioneers, you know. And and you know, uh obviously Fisher is a is a good rival uh for sure. Coach Raby's done a really good job there at getting that program going. They're real excited out there, and they should be, um, you know, putting together a staff and recruiting, and they've done a nice job. And then the heart, you know, Hartwick, it's kind of funny. Like, you know, it's always hard to look at scores, but they were oh geez, it was a third quarter with Fisher. I think it was 21-21. You know, Hartwick's battling, you know, at their place. So it's you know, these M player eight games are are tough, man. We just it's like whoever survives it when it's all done. When all the smoke clears and the season's done, you know, who's gonna win the conference, you know, who will finish second, you know, is there a team that could get an at-large bid in the tournament? Um, all things that you won't know until literally until you know five o'clock on on Saturday of the last week of the season.

Rocky: 12:10

Coach, I feel like I know you talked about this conference, and we we've talked about it at depth here throughout the football season, but this this conference to to try to get two teams in, I almost feel like what nine wins may get get you a chance to to get there.

Coach Faggiano: 12:26

You know, nine wins, I think nine wins guarantee almost guarantees you a chance with the way the setup is, you know, and then then it's like you know, can an eight and two team get in?

Rocky: 12:34

Right.

Coach Faggiano: 12:35

Maybe maybe depends on the how the NPI like and I tell you, I I've just stayed away from looking at it, right? I just know because I know that each week how much it can change, you know. So, like so this week, right, Fisher, Utica both playing a really good team, our our NPIs are gonna change after we play each other, right? Just like our MPI is gonna change after Hartwick and then it's gonna change again after Brockport, you know. And I think at the very end, and NPI, if you're familiar with it, they take the the five top teams when they look at that. So the other teams you play, you know, maybe have a team that that doesn't have a win, you know, very very few wins or whatever may hurt your MPI, they don't. They take the top five teams that that you played. And we all know that we've got some some good ones in there with the you know, RPI and and WJ early on in the year, you know. So it's you know, we talk about it on the show, um, you know, for the fans and the parents and and for our alumni that are watching, though. I'm not we're not not talking about that with the kids, you know, and and the kids know it's out there, and uh they've done a really good job of of staying focused and and going one and oh, you know, and they go and one-on-one. So um, and that's not easy to do, particularly in social media at times. You know, it's not really easy to, you know, it's it's it's start talking about off if this and if that and NPI and could we get in the tournament? Like that doesn't mean anything if we can't win, you know, a Saturday, right? And that's that's the most important thing.

Rocky: 13:59

Hey coach, you know St. John Fisher's as well as anybody. You got some history with with Fisher there, and here they come in and they're sitting at five and two, three and one, same with you in conference play here. Played Rochester really well. They dropped the Rochester, they fell to Cortland. Um, they had the big win against Brockport. I think that that game, I think, was an overtime. Um they beat Brockport. So um, I know you know Fisher pretty well, right? You got some history there.

Coach Faggiano: 14:23

You know, I was there nine years. I had a great run. Uh, I think the world of coach Vosberg and you know was uh you know happy to see Coach Raby get that job. Um, quality person, class act, and you know, put together a nice staff. Scott got a couple Cortland guys on there, their offensive line coach, Coach Sigala, their offensive coordinator. Um, and they've done a nice job. You can see it right away. They're they're they're they're better than they were a year ago, very well coached, uh playing, playing really sound uh defense and and can put some pressure on you uh in just the disguise of where that third safety is going to be. Um, you know, he did the same thing at Morrisville, you know, and when he was at Morrisville coach Raby, he beat Brockport a couple of times, you know, seemed to kind of have have their number a little bit. But um, you know, uh it's a game that you know we're we're excited about, right again, you got very we lose to Hobart, they lost to Uvar. You know, we both lost to Cortland, you know, kind of looking at that, saying, okay, you know, they're they had the big win against Brockport. So it you know, all the paper, you have pretty evenly matched teams in a big game at Gaetano Stadium, you know, and so uh certainly you know, looking at them, that their quarterback always is, you know, he can throw the ball, he'd run the ball. So that dual threat quarterback 100%. The running back, um, number five had a huge breakout game against Cortland, uh, rushed for well over 100 yards, maybe 120 or more. And uh they have some very good receivers as well. So like they, you know, definitely one of one of the better teams in the Empire this year, and then have some really good skill players.

Rocky: 15:54

Yeah, and the have gotten a lot of carries this year. I think it's the Hall kid, Deontay Hall, has got over close to 90 carries on the season, and I think the other senior uh chance has over 70 something. So it looks like they got two or three guys that get a lot of carries. So it looks like they want to come, but like you said, their quarterback who's junior, looks like you know, he's completing well of his balls, and they try to mix it up.

Coach Faggiano: 16:18

100% they have quarterback. I mean, again, anytime you have a quarterback run or you have a quarterback that can get out of the pocket and do things with his feet, uh, that's always a tough, you know, tough to defend. And um, you know, uh, you know, we we've you know, Mason Lister is a very good football player and they did a good job with him. And um, you know, it's gonna it's you know gonna be a real real good ball game on Saturday. You know, they uh chance had a great idea his best game of the year against Cortland, right? So he's real confident the running back position. He got the got the bulk bulk of the carries in this last game. And um, you know, they're all they got a couple of veteran offensive linemen, they're center, they're left tackle, and you know, uh a lot of people are excited about this. And it looks like we're gonna have decent weather now. It might be a little windy, but when is it not windy in the Mohawk Valley, right? So uh so we get we've got this Saturday is our Mohawk Valley Challengers Day. Uh it's sponsored by Human Technologies. You know, just take a minute and talk about the challengers if you don't mind. They uh have uh 40, I think it's 42 uh athletes uh that play flag football from the ages of eight to twenty five, and they're all special needs athletes. And they it's just an amazing organization. Uh, and uh we've gotten you know gotten to know them very well. We play some flag games with them and put them through drills at least once a year. Uh during our bye week, that was one of the things we did during our bye week is the challengers came out and we put them through some drills and we had some flag football, and it was just a great, great atmosphere. Um, in addition to that, it's our uh PPMD for uh parent uh project muscular dystrophy. And we have John Piazzettino who's uh gotten very close to our program, has been out to our stadium multiple times, uh, is the oldest living survivor of uh Duchenne muscular dystrophy and uh outstanding young man, he's been to like Congress, uh helped pass laws and studies and medicine and and therapies. And uh he talks with a guy who's at practice Friday night, and we he he always laughs about his uh spaceship uh wheelchair that he has. It's pretty amazing. And uh and he always makes the guys laugh and makes them appreciate you know some of the things that they have and and uh that John doesn't. But John is witty and smart and uh is really an uncommon uh young man. So we're excited to have him, his mom will bring him out, and there'll be a practice on Friday night, and he's gonna be out there for the coin toss Saturday. So, you know, back to Gaetano and giving back to the community this weekend.

Rocky: 18:43

And coach, you actually stole some of my thunder here because I wanted to talk a little bit about the community service because it you know, obviously I follow you guys on social media and even in the community, sometimes out and about, I see a lot of UC football guys, you know, giving back, which I think is awesome. I know you're really big on that.

Coach Faggiano: 19:00

You know, our game day atmosphere is is is pretty special, you know, and some of the teams we play might have big stadiums, but you know, they're not always full. So do we have the biggest stadium? No, but our stadium's always full, you know, and it's full of not just our parents, not just our students, our faculty, but just people from the community that want to come out and support Utica football. And it's something I learned uh a long time ago from Doc Spartano and Gary Heenan and the Utica Athletics and um to get out in the community and do community service and just what what the students' athletes learn from that, you know what I mean? And and really I I never had done a lot of community service personally until I came to Utica and became our head coach. And so that's something that the guys see me do, uh, they're out in the community doing it, and uh that's why we have such a great atmosphere, you know. And when they're out and about, uh they're very welcome in the community, man. If they're out in the pizza places, they're out in the restaurants, they're out in the in the grocery store, and they have their gear on um and they wear that Utica very proudly. People are asking them and how what how's the season and what are things looking like? And uh that's it's a fun place to play college football. You know, we have uh it's a small college, but we have a big time feel.

Rocky: 20:08

Well, I was just gonna say, coach, I mean, your your game day atmospheres are I I I'd put you up against anybody out there as far as uh you know, it's it's loud, it's it's the stands are full, but you got people lined up around the fences, which is awesome. Everybody's engaged. I mean, like you said, the stadium might not be huge, and it and some of those big stadiums are big, but they're empty. You come to one of your games, they may not be as big, but man, it's a great atmosphere for a college football game at any level.

Coach Faggiano: 20:34

We we we dream about making it maybe a little bit bigger, the stadium. I think we could fill it, you know. But uh the tailgating, you know, that just credits our parents, and uh, and they have a lot of fun too, you know. And and just like our players, these parents are coming from all over, and some are flying in from Florida or they're driving up from New Jersey or Long Island or Buffalo, or even like our local parents are very proud to teach uh, you know, the the Albany families and Long Island families about tomato pie and and chicken rigs, right? So um it really has become an atmosphere we're pretty excited about out there at the Tulf Man. And when recruits come, we've had a lot of recruits at our home games and they park right in the tailgate. Uh they have a great time and they can kind of catch that that vibe of that family atmosphere that we're fortunate to have.

Rocky: 21:19

Yeah, and I'll tell you that homecoming crowd, man, that that tailgating was crazy for for homecoming. It took me a while to walk through there. Everywhere I was turning, I was running into somebody, but it that thing was rocking over there for the tailgating.

Coach Faggiano: 21:31

That was a good time, you know, and it was a good time. And uh again, I you know, I think you know, you talk about you know family, and uh anytime you talk about family, at least where I grew up, there's always food around, right? Yeah. You know, that's something that we're proud to have. And our guys, we know whether their parents make it to the game or not, they can go to tailgate after the game, you know what I mean, and and be welcomed in by the parents, and uh they do a great job for that. And then and then they were tailgating after JV games as always. So we you know, we had a bunch of uh we have seven JD games this year, which was great. A bunch of them were home, and they were tailgating on Sundays as well. So literally some weekends we had a whole weekend of just Utica football between Saturday and Sunday, which was a lot of fun.

Rocky: 22:12

So, coach, for this week, a couple keys of the game for you guys to walk out of uh uh with a win.

Coach Faggiano: 22:20

Um you know, again, limit those explosive plays. You know what I mean? They they've got some very good receivers, running backs. You know, the running back you know broke off some huge runs against Cortland. Um again, that was a really close football game for for quite quite a while. I'm sure you know, you know, people now look at they're looking at that film and see a pretty pretty equal matchup going into Saturday. Um, we played Cortland pretty tough as well. Um you know, uh again, I think they're quarterback too. I think being like best we can keep him in the pocket because he he's dangerous when he gets out of the pocket. So um, you know, and then offensively again, I think just continuing to be balanced, you know what I mean, and not, you know, uh, you know, doing too much of any one thing. I think that keeps defenses a little bit in check when they have to defend the running pass in every down. And I think winning on first down is big, you know what I mean? Not not being in third and long too much, you know. I think that can be tough, particularly versus the teams that play the three high safety look and the disguise that they have. Um, and uh, and then you know, it's always the hidden yardage on the special teams, you know, and uh and those penalties. We need to get them back. We we had a couple weeks where we had three or four penalties. That was it. So we got to get back to that, you know what I mean? And and uh, you know, because you're gonna have a few, but we need to get away from we had 12 this past weekend, which is unacceptable. Um, and in those big games, that's where the hidden yardage is in the field position. And you know, you give any good team excellent field position, their chances of scoring go way up, yeah. So we gotta make sure we don't do that.

Rocky: 23:47

So, Coach, I gotta put up on here. You are 23 and 17, and I am 22 and 18. I'm not doing very well. I thought I would have done a lot better than this with picks since I'm the one that follows just about every college football.

Coach Faggiano: 24:01

I don't tell you, I don't pay attention at all. I'm going all and stuff.

Rocky: 24:04

So it doesn't make me feel good. And some of my buddies have messaged me and said, Hey, you can't let Coach Voss beat you in these picks. He doesn't even watch a lot of college football during the season.

Coach Faggiano: 24:11

He's got even on the bye week. I'm not watching football. I'm out, I was out in roster hunting with my dad for a day or two for the guys that know me. Or so I'm not I'm not you know watching.

Rocky: 24:19

I'm up watching Hawaii versus Texas and Am Corpus Christi or whoever late at night that nobody's watching. Um some some decent games this week, Coach. This game, Penn State is gonna play at Ohio State. And I think if anybody would have said that Ohio State would be a 20 and a half point favorite before the year started, I think people would say you're crazy because this line is huge. And uh obviously we know what would happen with Penn State, who by the way, I just heard that I think James Franklin might be named the head coach at Virginia Tech. Uh really. Which I think is a good spot for him. I think it's a with the ACC down, I think he can uh I think he can win there. Um but Penn State, Ohio State coach. Any chance Penn State goes in and pulls a stunner against the Buckeyes?

Coach Faggiano: 25:02

No, Ohio State's really good right now. Going going, Buckeyes.

Rocky: 25:06

Yeah, I'm with you. That that's right.

Coach Faggiano: 25:08

I gotta try to get Keen some ground on here.

Rocky: 25:10

There's a couple I think we're gonna we're gonna go the other way on. Um Vandy, you and I both had Vandy against LSU. Um, no, actually, you and I both had LSU. I think that was the loss that uh we both had, because I think we both picked LSU. This will be interesting. This will be a good game. Hard to really I don't know if Arch Manning is playing. He was in concussion protocol. Um, some rumors went back and forth on Steve Sarkeesian. Said he had interest in the NFL. Then he said he didn't. Vandy had the big win over LSU, who, by the way, Brian Kelly was fired at LSU. Um so Vandy at Texas. Texas is actually favored by one and a half at home. Who you like?

Coach Faggiano: 25:50

This is a tough one. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go heart strings and go Vandy here.

Rocky: 25:56

Uh I'm I'm with you. I like Vandy. I think they're I think they're playing really. I love the quarterback. He's a he reminds me of Johnny Manzel. Just he's a winner. Um, and that coach has done a phenomenal. That's his alma modern, too, at Vandy.

Coach Faggiano: 26:09

Yeah, that's a that's a big one beating LSU for so they're they're definitely confident.

Rocky: 26:13

Confidence is such a big thing. This is another game because I love Josh Heipel. Um, I think he's done a fantastic job at Tennessee. Oklahoma's coming off the loss too. Lane Kiff in an old miss. Um Oklahoma at Tennessee. Tennessee's actually favored by two and a half at home. Offense against defense. Venable's the defensive guy, and Josh Heipel, the the offensive guy. Who you like? Oh, this one's tough. I'm gonna go with Tennessee. Yeah. I'm uh I'm with you. I like Tennessee. I'm just not sold on Oklahoma. I think their quarterback, John Matthews, kind of struggled since he's been hurt and came back. Um, they just haven't looked the same. And people are saying that if Oklahoma loses, maybe Venables is out at Oklahoma. Can you imagine all these jobs of these coaches that have gotten fired midseason? I can't. It's like the NFL. Like 50 million here, 40. I'm like, wow.

Coach Faggiano: 27:08

The biggest statement that was wild was Coach Sabins, right? And just talking about how it's changed and then the NIL, and then who's deciding who gets the money and how much money. And what if that group of people make the wrong decision that all of a sudden there's a coach or out of a job? How crazy is that?

Rocky: 27:24

He made a really good comment today because in the NBA, I think somebody said that there was a G League player that now has committed to go play college basketball. So you're gonna get a G League kid. So Saban said at some point in time, he's like, I could see, and he just used a Giants, a third string quarterback for the Giants that holds the clipboard. Go back to college. He goes, That that's the world that we may live in in college football. And I don't doubt it. You never know. Yeah, that's that's crazy. That's crazy. So, coach, here's another one. Um, this I think this could be a good game. Matt Rule, whose name's being rumored for the Penn State job. Nebraska at home, they're six and two. U.S.C. Lincoln Riley again, offensive guy against against Nebraska. Nebraska is getting six and a half points at home. Can they beat USC?

Coach Faggiano: 28:14

So now last week USC won.

Rocky: 28:17

Last week USC won. Yep. Yep.

Coach Faggiano: 28:20

That watched a little bit of that game. Trump, who do they play? I remember watching that game a little bit.

Rocky: 28:24

They they beat Michigan a couple weeks ago. Um and Nebraska is one of those teams that's really hard to figure out because I really want to like Nebraska because I do like Matt Rule. But I feel like when it's a really big game, his record isn't that great against big big teams either. And this is another one. He's got a big opportunity here. They're six and a half dogs at home here against USC. You like the home team? I'm gonna go USC. Uh I'm I'm with you. Going with USC. I'm riding with a lot of offensive guys this week. I I like these matchups um for the offensive guys, but we we got a couple here we might. Yeah. This could be a really, really good game here. And I don't I know I'm not sure about the line here. Nobody's talking about Cincinnati and the job that they've done this year. It's 7-1. They got a really good chance to win the Big 12. Utah's played really well. They're tough at home. They're a nine and a half point favorite at home against Cincinnati. I'm gonna give you my pick first, just so you don't think I'm trying to even you out. I'm gonna say minus or minus nine and a half. So they're actually Utah's favorite um at home. I'm going with Cincinnati. I really like Cincinnati this year.

Coach Faggiano: 29:40

All right, there you go. This is a little different. I'm gonna go Utah.

Rocky: 29:43

Okay. Utah's tough at home. They're tough at home, and he's good. He's a great coach. Kyle Whittingham's a great coach.

Coach Faggiano: 29:48

Yes, I think he's outstanding.

Rocky: 29:51

All right, and of course, we have to always pick the Syracuse game when they're playing. I just heard tonight on well, I heard saw it on Twitter. I do not think. Um, the quarterback is starting. So I think Syracuse is going with a different quarterback um in this game. I think this game's Friday night. I think it's on Halloween. Who knows what the hell is going on with North Carolina? But Syracuse is actually a one and a half point favorite at the dome.

Coach Faggiano: 30:18

This this game I'm gonna go with uh with the orange.

Rocky: 30:22

You're gonna go with Syracuse?

Coach Faggiano: 30:23

I don't see who much need to win with the new quarterback.

Rocky: 30:26

Yeah, I don't know who I like because North Carolina, even defensively with with Belichick and his son calling the plays, they haven't looked good at all. I really want to pick Syracuse, but we have who do we well you liked Utah, so we got one different. I might be able to make up one on you. I I'm gonna roll with Syracuse actually. You know what? No, I'm gonna give you another chance. I'm gonna roll with North, I'm gonna roll with North Carolina. This is this is really interesting.

Coach Faggiano: 30:49

I think it's about the the the Cincinnati Utah, how well is the team travel, right? How well is Cincinnati gonna travel and play in that hostile environment, right? Um I think like again, I think USC will travel well, right? How well is uh you know going the dome is not an easy thing, you know, and uh and Syracuse is real and they're they're they're hungry for a win. I know Coach Brown will get him get him fired up, and maybe the the change of quarterback will give the team some spark for sure.

Rocky: 31:16

Well, I know one thing, there's a lot of a lot of these big jobs are mentioning uh Fran Brown for Canaan just because of his recruiting ties in the state of Florida. I've heard his name come up for the Florida job. I've heard it come up possibly for Florida State. And when you get on Twitter, you see all these names of these athletes in the transfer portal, and they're all linked to Syracuse, which which is fantastic for him. So I think it's him and a couple of other guys on his staff are three of the best recruiters in the country.

Coach Faggiano: 31:44

Yeah, they're I mean, I I went out there a few times, and they haven't put together a great coaching staff, you know. And that that that's a big part of the recruiting piece is that you know the kids want to play for those guys, you know, for sure. So um, so I you know why generally want to see him do well.

Rocky: 32:00

Well, coach, listen, good luck Saturday. Uh, we'll be there. I'll be there on Saturday for the game, so I'm excited. Um I think the weather is supposed to hold off. It's supposed to rain on Friday night, but I I saw just a little windy and cold on Saturday, so a typical fall day here in upstate New York.

Coach Faggiano: 32:16

I definitely want to wish our local teams in the playoffs well, you know, that they do well. And and that, you know, it's funny. If I start mark mentioning a few, I'm gonna miss some, but I know New Hartford and Whitesboro are playing at home, I believe, in the next couple, you know, next couple of nights, I believe. So um, you know, I've gotten to know uh you know Coach Kramer know well, and Coach Schmidt, my neighbor, and uh, you know, wish those guys well, along with all the other teams that are playing in the in the playoffs. I'm sure I think Frankfurt is doing really well again this year.

Rocky: 32:43

Yep.

Coach Faggiano: 32:43

Uh so you just want to see all our local teams do well.

Rocky: 32:47

Well, Coach, good luck and uh look forward to talking with you again next week. Thanks for the moves. Take it easy. So that was Coach Blaze Fazziano, who I, you know, all my a lot of my buddies are messaging me on you know Twitter and all this, saying you can't let Coach Faz beat you in picks. You're the guy that follows this stuff and talks about it, and Coach Foz has his own season to worry about. Here he is, he's one pick up on me. So I got to try to make up some ground here. But I love talking to Coach. I'm so happy that uh he let me do this with him throughout throughout football season. We got a couple more weeks, hopefully three more weeks with him, um, depending on the end of the year for him. Hopefully, they're in the playoffs or playing in a bowl game. So I want to make sure I thank Coach as always for uh jumping on with me here on the Rock Buy. I want to thank everybody for following the show. The Mohawk Valley Sports Watch will return. I know a lot of people have asked me about some of the local stuff. I've been really busy with my own season that just finished up. Uh, we finished five and one. So congratulations to my kids. And then we've been busy running around with my daughter to soccer on weekends, so I just have not had the time. But I promise you, promise you, promise you, the Mohawk Valley Sports Watch is not going anywhere. So I want to make sure I give my sister a special shout out for her Camden team last night, beating Whitesboro in overtime. Congratulations to both teams. Congratulations to Rome Free Academy field hockey. They stay unbeaten. Uh, they will play uh on Saturday morning. My sister plays Saturday afternoon. She's in the championship game of Class B against VVS, and Rome Free Academy is in the um the class double A championship game against Baldwinsville, who I believe was the two seed. Um so congratulations to them. As Coach Faz mentioned, um Coach Kramer new Hartford are still going. Coach Smith at Whitesboro is still going. A lot of local teams um still going. I don't want to uh forget to leave anybody out. Good luck to Coach D'Cola and Rome Free Academy. They play tomorrow night, um, as most of these teams do, because Friday night's Halloween. I think they had the option whether or not they wanted to play Thursday or Friday. So I want to make sure I give Coach D'Cola a shout out to the boys here, right here in the backyard at Rome Free Academy. They will travel to play CNS, who had a chance to beat CBA not too long ago. So it should be a really good game out there in Syracuse. So best of luck to Coach D'Cola and the Black Knights. So, on behalf of myself here on the Rock Pile, the Rock Pile is where dreams become reality. Have a good evening, everybody.