Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trag
Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trag is a podcast aiming at bringing you Wisconsin sports news and opinions everyday! Follow the podcast and check out the Facebook and instagram page!
Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trag
Brewers' Win the Central! The Keys to their Success. Badgers Bye Week Pressure, and Spotlight on Wisconsin Sports – Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trag
What if the Milwaukee Brewers' remarkable journey to clinching the National League Central Division title could inspire you to overcome your own challenges? In our latest episode, we dive into the exhilarating story of the Brewers' 2023 season, highlighting their unexpected success and resilience in the face of adversity. Reflecting on preseason predictions that grossly underestimated them, we celebrate the Brewers’ extraordinary rise, punctuated by the misfortunes of the Chicago Cubs. You'll get a front-row seat to the passionate reactions from fans and the steadfast fighting spirit that Pat Murphy instilled in the team during spring training.
Discover the secret weapons behind the Brewers' astonishing performance as we spotlight the standout players who made it all possible. From the dramatic improvements shown by Frankie Montes to the fearless leadership of Contreras and Pat Murphy, this episode showcases the strategic brilliance and defensive prowess that kept the Brewers ahead. Learn about the versatile talents of players like Bryce Terang and the unexpected hitting prowess of Eric Haas, whose contributions have been pivotal. This chapter is a testament to the team's dedication and the clever strategies that made a real difference this season.
But it’s not just about the Brewers. We also tackle the pressing issues facing the Wisconsin Badgers, outlining the essential changes needed to revitalize their offense and defense before their next big game against USC. And as always, we underline the importance of staying connected with Wisconsin sports news, leaving you with a sense of community and appreciation for our loyal listeners. Tune in for a comprehensive and engaging look at the latest triumphs and tribulations in Wisconsin sports!
How we doing everybody and welcome in to Wisconsin sports on the go with trade. I'm your host, trade. We're coming back on a Thursday, september 19th, a fantastic Thursday, and I mean Brewer fans, are you excited, are you ecstatic, that the Brewers are National League Central champions again? Back to back years, are you feeling it? Yet I got the division champ shirt on today, right, last year's. Got to get a new one for this season, right, it's 2023. Got to get a new one for in the wardrobe for the playoff run here. But man, I am. You know it's.
Speaker 1:It's crazy to think that the brewers didn't have to win to win the nl central. They just needed the cubs to lose a couple games, that's. It's always baffled me in that way, but I'll take it. I'll take it. Before the brewers even squared off with the phillies last night, they were crowned NL Central champions. Pop the champagne, blow all the haters away. You got to love it, even Cub fans.
Speaker 1:I was on Facebook yesterday there and I saw a post. It was in the diehard Cub fans. I don't even know how it just came across my Facebook feed. For some reason I'm not in the diehard Facebook. It says't even know how it just came across my facebook feed for some reason. Right, I'm not in the diehard facebook. It says I can follow them. Right, it's in the diehard cup fans uh group there and it says I can follow. So don't get me wrong, I'm not in the group. But it showed up and there's some anonymous poster.
Speaker 1:But it's sad that I am jealous of the milwaukee brewers and their success over the years. Hashtag, hashtag diehardcupfan I was. That made me like awesome, awesome. I am glad that you feel like crap, that you are sitting there and you're jealous now of the Milwaukee Brewers. They didn't do it with just Craig Council. No, no, no, craig Council went to you, we got Pat Murphy and we still, we still. You took our manager and we still finished in first, gotta love it, gotta love that.
Speaker 1:And then you get all the comments after that and Cub fans just completely blowing their low. I mean just all of it. Just, I mean it was just going through. The comments was just hysterical. You know World Series means this and, yeah, it does end of the day. You want this magical season that you would. I mean it's a magical season. I'll be honest with you right now I want to get more into this, more into the Brewers here, but this has been a magical season, to be honest.
Speaker 1:I mean, you look at where the Brewers were expected to finish this year and I pulled up, uh, the post from earlier this year and not, they were picked in the las vegas. So this is a pre-season brewers standing projections okay, this is from all the major sites, places, whatever you want to call them, that they do betting, everything like that. Las vegas sides brewers. Fourth esp Athletic. Second I'll take the Athletic Kudos to you guys. The Athletic had them in. Second, fox Sports. Fifth they picked the Brewers to finish. Fifth in the division Fangraphs. Fourth Pakoda. Third CBS Sports. Fifth the Ringer.
Speaker 1:Fourth you take the quote from what Pat Murphy said coming out of spring training and essentially I don't remember the exact quote off the top of my head, but basically just saying this is a team that's going to fight and watch out, right, just watch out. That's all he said. Just watch out. That was what this team did. They fought right. This is a team that they're scrappy. You know, last season I talked about the Arizona Diamondbacks and they were too young, dumb and stupid to know that they weren't supposed to be doing what they were doing right. That's what I always said this team doesn't know that they're not supposed to be doing what they're doing right now. This team is playing to heights that nobody saw coming. I mean I just listed off the standings where they had them projected to finish.
Speaker 1:You lose Corbin Burns, brandon Woodruff's on the shelf for the year. You lose your manager in Craig Council. I mean you didn't know it at the time, but Christian Yelich goes down with a season-ending back injury and he struggles with the back all season long. You would have injuries up the wazoo. Garrett Mitchell would go out once again to start the year. It's just all these little things. Devin Williams goes down right. You lose your all-star closer. All these little things just keep on happening and keep on happening.
Speaker 1:And the Brewers I mean you look at the pitching rotation, right. I mean you're throwing out Colin Ray. You had rookies in there. You had Aaron Ashby at one point you were throwing around. Freddie Peralta's been in there. You had Aaron Ashby at one point. You were throwing around. Freddie Peralta's been in there. Wade Miley goes out with injury. I mean you were digging as deep as you possibly could. You had Dallas Keuchel in this starting rotation. Dallas Keuchel. He is now in the Japanese league.
Speaker 1:Dallas Keuchel was on this team at one point. You traded for him for a dollar, one whole dollar. For a dollar, one whole dollar. You got Dallas Keuchel.
Speaker 1:I don't know how, I don't know how, I really don't. I believed, right, you sit there as a Brewer fan and you tell yourself I believed the whole time. Right, I believed the whole time. Beginning of the year I said there was some things that if the Brewers got going and did right, there was a shot. There was a definite shot. So I'm not going to say that I was completely, I wasn't completely in right, I wasn't out. I was like middle, middle right, and all Brewer fans I mean there's diehard Brewer fans who are sitting there, like you know. We got all these random guys. I mean who would have thought Brian Hudson, jared Caning, guys like that would be the most? I mean Brian Hudson would turn and right now he's not even on the roster because we sent him to AAA. Still don't know why he's not back up. But we're giving him time, right, we're giving him time. I don't know what's really happening in that situation, but who would have thought that those guys would give us and lead us to the success that we're at right now I wouldn't have. And then they go out mid-season they get guys like frankie montes and aaron sabali and it's like what are these guys gonna do for us? You know, you're, you're sitting there and you're thinking to yourself, like frankie's coming on with a 5d ra, sabali has been lit up this season. What are those two guys going to be able to do for us to help us in this postseason or what we're assuming is going to be a postseason push? They've been nothing but fantastic since arriving in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1:Milwaukee the Brewers. They find talent. They know where there's talent. They have a way to fix guys. I mean, look at Frankie Montes. From what he was doing in Cincinnati to what he's doing now, it's a night and day difference between what he's I mean what he's even throwing right the fastball. He's throwing the fastball more. I mean regularly now. Right Before, not as much with the fastball, he was more off speed. He's been working the fastball a lot more, just those little things. And that has a lot to do with Contreras too, because Contreras is a guy we know likes to call the fastball, he likes to, I mean he likes speed, he likes to light guys up right. It speaks volumes to what Contreras has been able to do behind the plate, what Pat Murphy's been able to do in that clubhouse and this coaching staff in total to get these guys ready to go every single day. But it speaks volumes to a team that I mean.
Speaker 1:They have no fear. I will go with this as far as I can. They have no fear, they have zero fear. They don't care if you're the big bad Dodgers, they don't care. If you're the Phillies, they don't care. Right, they know they're as good as you and that's the way that they play. They know they're as good as you and that's the way that they play. They know they're as good as that team, whoever it is in that opposing dugout, they're gonna fight. I mean we watched early, I mean multiple times throughout the season where they've been trailing by multiple runs and been able to mount comebacks in those games. The fight is there. They have a ton of fight.
Speaker 1:The speed, the speed of this team, is a dangerous thing. I mean not just in the stolen base category, which I mean they've been impressive. Right, this team has been impressive stealing bases. I think, when I put it into perspective, of the speed factor of this team, it's not just that they can steal all these bases, it's the threat that they can steal these bases that really puts the pressure on, no matter if it's Aaron, noel, zach Wheeler or you're talking about, even when they're facing the Orioles with Corbin Burns. Right, burns knows these guys like to run. That's what you the threat of these guys being able to steal bases that's huge. That's huge. That puts pressure on another team in catchers, pitchers, whatever it is. So I look at that as a big factor into why they are where. They are Creating errors, creating base hits, little dribbler in the infield, these guys there has been times right, I wanted to run down and kick Contreras or Hoskins, whoever it was, for not running out.
Speaker 1:Those guys aren't very fast to begin with. But you look at the rest of this ride. I mean Sal and Yellich when he was out there, and Garrett Mitchell, jackson, churio, perkins, whoever it is those guys are busting it out of the box. It doesn't matter if it's a little dribbler to third or if it's a shot to shortstop. They are making it close at first base. Creating errors, creating hits, creating opportunities is what this I mean. Opportunities is the biggest thing when I think about this Brewers offense. They put pressure on you because you have to make the play quick. You don't have time to think about it as a shortstop or a second baseman or a third baseman. You don't have time to think, you don't have time to pump. You have to get that ball across the infield as fast as you possibly can Once you get it, because if you wait back or anything like that, that play at first base is going to be extremely close and odds are brewers are going to beat it out. So creating those kinds of opportunities for themselves has been huge this year.
Speaker 1:The defense, I mean I don't know what it is. Sal frelick threw a guy out the other day there. Dear mitchell has tossed some guys. Perkins has had some. I mean Perkins in center field. The dude looks like he is, I mean nonchalant, like when Perkins robs a home run, the amount of like you know you think about guys robbing home runs and how fast they're getting to that ball and everything like that. Watching Perkins rob a home run is the most slow motion like cool thing you'll watch because he like eases back to the track. He's slow and steady and you would think that the ball isn't even going to come down close to him because he's so like methodical with the way that he moves and then all of a sudden just got it it in no reaction, nothing, just bam, got the ball, throw it in like like it was nothing, right, perkins is I mean that kind of defense.
Speaker 1:Terang at second base, the way that he can move at second base, the range, what he has, what ground he can cover. Willie Adamas, joey Ortiz has played great at third base. Contreras behind the plate has been good. Right, excuse me, their first base is still a question mark for me at times. Hoskins is enough to get by, right. Hoskins is enough to get by Bowers a little bit better, on the defensive side a little bit. You know both them guys on offense are, eh, at times there.
Speaker 1:And then you have the guys, the random guys, right, eric Haas. This guy just shows up and starts hitting. Right, this guy just shows up and starts hitting. For you. It is nothing but impressive as we watch Bryce Terang make the play to first base, get out of the inning. That a baby, that a baby. Gotta love it. You see, all these I mean defensive plays that the Brewers are making. It just makes you feel good. It gives you those vibes of a team that they have that skill. They have the skill on the defensive side of the ball. They can score you some runs with that kind of lockdown defense. You don't need a lot to win, right, if you keep the ball in the ballpark with an outfield of South relic, jackson Cheerio, blake Perkins, garrett Mitchell mixed in there, whatever it is with that kind of defense behind you in the outfield, if you keep the ball in the park, there's a very good chance those guys will run it down in gaps. So you love the defense.
Speaker 1:Great defense has been premier for this team all season, solid pitching, like I just mentioned earlier Frankie Montes coming in and pitching well. Same with Savali Tobias Myers in his second time around right, he was starter. Then he went to the bullpen, then he came back as a starter. I mean he's been good, he's been solid for you. Freddy Peralta hasn't been what you hoped for, but he's been solid. I mean talking about tonight here he's got another great game, strikeout-wise, one home run given up. One-one game Outside of that has been great. So you're looking at Freddy Peralta there as pitching well for you.
Speaker 1:Right, there is no bona fide ace in this rotation. Which does? I mean Colinin ray, another guy, I didn't even mention him. Colin ray, another guy who was pitch fantastic for the brewers. There is no bona fide like this is, my for sure, number one guy in this rotation. But there is a bunch of solid pitchers in there.
Speaker 1:And then you look at the bullpen. I mentioned him earlier with caning and brian hudson has been solid this year. I he's going to come back at some point, I hope, right. Devin williams has has been good. He loves to make it pressured, right. He can't just get through an inning one, two, three. He's got to load the bases first, then he's going to get through it. Having Devin Williams back out there has been great. And then the surprises, right, anoli Paredes and Piam's getting better as the season went on there.
Speaker 1:Different pieces of that bullpen that have stepped up all year long. Bryce Wilson has been solid for this team. The little pieces I mean DL Hall and Aaron Ashby's impact in the bullpen when they came back. I mean Aaron Ashby has been phenomenal out of the bullpen since he came back Last night. Got roughed up a little bit by the Phillies there a couple nights ago. Other than that, I mean he has been solid in the bullpen. So you got to love those guys stepping up into those roles and doing good things. And Colin Ray I just mentioned him before they're getting in at an end of a game, not as a starter, right? Pat Murphy talked to Colin about going into the bullpen gets his first save multiple innings Got to love it. You got to love that kind of stuff. So solid pitching all the way around, you got to love it. And I mean, like I said earlier, it's just guys stepping up the little things, right? Eric Haas stepping up in big spots and even guys, like I said, anoli Paredes and Tobias Myers the guys that we didn't expect to be the guys this year have stepped up big time for the Brewers this season. So you've got to love it there.
Speaker 1:I want to look over some of the stats. What has led to where the Brewers are at right now, where they rank in certain categories? So home run wise Brewers they're 15th. I mean they don't hit a lot of home runs. That's another thing that you love about this team. They find ways to score runs in other ways. Because you look at the run differential that the Brewers have compared to opposing teams or other teams out there, the Brewers right now they have 130 plus 134 in the run differential right, that's run scored to runs allowed. So basically the Brewers have allowed 599 runs on the season. They have scored 733. So there's your plus 134 in that mark. You look at the rest of the league the Yankees are the next closest at plus 132. Outside of that the Phillies they're plus 119. Dodgers plus 113. That tells you how well the Brewers offense has done in comparison to what their pitching staff has done for them too, not allowing a lot of runs, scoring runs to go along with it. You got to love those kinds of stats there.
Speaker 1:Rest of the stats for the Brewers you look at the RBI department. For them right now they are currently in six, that's 700 home runs. Dimebacks is 796. Drawing walks Drawing walks the Brewers. What I love about this team. It hurts them at times but their patience at the plate right, their patience at the plate, not chasing pitches, as I'm watching this game here and Willie has chased a couple here and Jackson's chased a couple, but Aaron Nola has has got solid curve ball right. So that definitely does not help that factor there. But 569 walks on the season there, that's second in all of baseball, only two of the New York Yankees, who have 619. They are ahead of the Dodgers, they're ahead of the Phillies, they're ahead of all those teams.
Speaker 1:The Phillies are a team that strikes out a lot. I mean you look at the Phillies there they have, I believe, 1,275 strikeouts on the season. You look at the Brewers though 1,344 strikeouts on the season. They strike out a good amount too, but they are watching pitches, they're getting on base and those walks are huge because those walks, especially with, like the brewers, they're one of the best teams with two outs. Right on the season I believe they have scored yep, 312 runs with two outs, 312 runs with two outs. Next up on that list is the diamondbacks, with 302 and the dodgers with 293 drawing walks, especially with two being able to set the play or set up somebody else in that batting order. Those are all huge things.
Speaker 1:So you got to love the Brewers ability to draw walks. In that sense, stolen bases, currently sitting in third in the league. There they're behind the Reds and the Nationals. The Brewers are there at 197, the Reds at 200 and the Nationals at 211 so far in the season. I mean, look at the reds, that's mainly ellie de la cruz and the other guys are kind of just there for the ride, right. So brewers, I mean you gotta love and only caught 42 times. So when they get on, when they steal bases, they're smart about it they get on, they pick their spots, they steal bases, they set up the rest of the lineup, that's what you love to see.
Speaker 1:Team batting average this is one. When I look at the brewers and I look at this roster and I see some of the averages you'd be like it ain't gonna look pretty right 250. A team batting average of 250. That ain't bad. That ain't bad. You think about the top there in the san diego padres 265. The phillies are sitting at 258, dodgers at 25, 254, 250 for the Brewers there. Their bats have been solid all season long. Their bats have been solid all season long so far for the Brewers. So you've got to love that. You've got to love those stats there. I mean total hits. Right now they are currently 10th in all baseball in total hits. Total runs they are sitting at 734. That is trailing the diamondbacks, dodgers and yankees in that stat there. So you love the offensive stats there. You gotta love the offensive stats there for the brewers on the season.
Speaker 1:And then we look over at the pitching staff, because we look to the offense, you to look at defense. What got, what got this brewers team to this point there, right? So, looking at the pitching staff, so far runs allowed. So this is earned runs on the season. There their pitching staff is sitting at 549 and that's, in comparison to the team that's leading that list, not in a good category, at 807 in the colorado rockies, don't? You? Don't love that, you don't love that there? Uh, that is good for in the National League, that's good for 14th overall in all of baseball. They are sitting at 27th, 27th in earned runs.
Speaker 1:I, I don't know what screams impressive. Besides, I mean, you look at who's below them. Which two of them are going to surprise you. Two of them are going to surprise you the tigers and the mariners. Those two surprise me. The braves are in there too. Now what I'll say with the mariners and the mariners is that they have a solid pitching staff. Their lineup just stinks, right. Tigers, they have a solid pitching staff, so do the braves there.
Speaker 1:So that tells you a lot about that list there and how low the Brewers actually are. They don't allow a lot of runs to come across the board there Earned runs in that factor. Looking at runs. So this is just all runs in total. They still sit in 27. But this time the Guardians are below them, the Braves are below them and the Mariners are below them there.
Speaker 1:So got to love the stats, gotta love the stats during that pitching staff not allowing a lot of runs. In that sense and this is where this is where a lot of those runs come from the brewers are an eighth in home runs, eighth in home runs given up. So they're at 184 home runs given up on the year. That is, in comparison to the number one team on that list, like I said, not a good spot to be in 202, the colorado rockies, the bottom of that list, kansas City Royals, at 137. They've given up 137 home runs on the season there. It's a great stat for the Kansas City Royals Brewers sitting in eighth. You know where the runs are coming from now. A lot of them coming from giving up that home run ball there. Total strikeouts on the season there. Looking at the Brewers, they are currently in 20th.
Speaker 1:They don't strike a lot of guys out and this is where it comes back to, like I said before, the defense and how well this defense is played is that they don't strike a lot of guys out. They rely on that defense to make plays, especially with guys in your rotation or even in that bullpen, who don't strike guys out. That's not their big thing, right? You don't have power throwers, right. You don't have guys who pitch for power. You don't have guys who pitch to strike guys out. Freddy Peralta was a big strikeout guy. He's kind of lost that, right. Guys who used to swing and miss at his fastball don't swing and miss at that anymore. So that is, I mean, what you're seeing there in the strikeout department.
Speaker 1:What has led to the Brewers' success is what they're doing on defense. So you know, you're not really worried about that number there. You're not really worried about that number whatsoever there. Looking at Team ERA, the Brewers right now they are sitting at a Team ERA of 3.65. That is good for fourth in all of baseball, behind the Braves, mariners and Tigers on this season. There, you love it. You love all these stats. You love all these stats. You love all these stats. This is why the Brewers are NL Central champions.
Speaker 1:Throw the division champ shirt out one more time. Gotta love it. Gotta love it. I gotta get like I said. I gotta get out there on the internet. Order me a couple new t-shirts, right, gotta get some cool ones and maybe a sweatshirt. I don't know. I don't have a sweatshirt from the division of champs from last year. Maybe I'll get a sweatshirt this time around. A couple things should be great. I mean washing champagne, uh, popping there. Gotta love it, gotta love it there.
Speaker 1:So let's move on here. Talked about the brewers excited, everything like that. Let's get to something that could be exciting if some of these things happen in the bye week. Here we. We got to get to the Badgers here quick. I got some tidbits about the Badgers Packers before we wrap it up for the day. Here.
Speaker 1:Badgers, they got the bye week coming up this week, but it's a big week, right, you got a lot of things that got to happen here. They got to regroup, right, you just got your butt kick on your home field against Alabama. Badgers. Can't let that. You can't let that get you down. This team needs to regroup. They got to get together, they got to grow together and that's the only way this thing's going to happen. This isn't a team that is as skilled as Alabama. They're probably not as skilled as Oregon or anybody Any of these top-ranked teams that they're going to face the rest of the way. They got to find a way to regroup as a team and don't let this one bite, because you have USC coming up next week. You can't let this one be a hangover from there. You got to come out firing against USC, so they got to regroup this week here.
Speaker 1:Phil Longo needs to rediscover why he was brought into Madison to be an offensive coordinator, because right now this offense looks like crap. I'm not going to lie, it looks like crap. I watch his team. It's not an air raid, it's a run heavy. We disguise the run with an air raid name, but it's more or less just running the football around. They want to run the football.
Speaker 1:What's the difference between when Paul Chris was here and what we got now in Phil Longo? I don't know. You have guys like Bryson Green in the room. You got guys like Will Pauling, guys like Vinny Anthony. Why are those guys even here if we're not going to utilize them to their full strikes? Will Pauling is great in the slot under the middle right, going over the middle there. Vinny Anthony is great for a bailout guy, or you know some little bit deeper crosser. He's got some speed to him there.
Speaker 1:And Bryson Green is a 6'3", 200-some pound wide receiver. Throw the ball up to him and let him go get it. This is what this guy was brought here for. He's your deep ball threat. He's got some speed, he's got the athleticism, he's got the size. Let him be that guy.
Speaker 1:Otherwise I don't understand why they're here. The guys that we recruit, these wide receivers. We have the most recruiting we've done in the wide receiver room ever right, and we're not even using them. So what the heck's the point? Tell me what the heck's the point of them guys. Get me an offensive coordinator that's either going to utilize these weapons or get them out of here, because there's no point on Phil Longo not utilizing these weapons that the Badgers have. There's no reason, absolutely zero reason, for it. It sucks to watch. It really does. Because you see these guys who, at the start of the season we were sitting there, like you know.
Speaker 1:Bryson Green, he has a ton of potential. Use him over the top. Will Pauling's got a ton of potential. Use him over the middle. Vinny Anthony's got a boatload of speed. Got to use it. We look at all these guys and we talked about it and yet we don't use those guys. Got to use the talent in the room.
Speaker 1:So Phil Longo, this week, has got to be able to figure out his offense. He has a week to figure it out before you travel to USC. Week two weeks, almost right, two weeks. You got two weeks to figure it out before you travel to USC and they either stomp your doors in because you can't figure it out on the offensive side of the ball or you figure it out. That's plain and simple. And one way they're going to figure it out is if they help Brayden Locke get some confidence in himself. He looked like he was pissing his pants out there against Alabama, which is fair enough, right? You're going up against a team like Alabama. You're just throwing in there. I'd be pissing my pants. I mean these guys barreling down. I mean I would piss my pants too. But this I mean Luke Fickle this offense.
Speaker 1:Whoever it is I don't know if it's Will Pauling, one of the leaders on this team, or Phil Longo. For Pete's sake, somebody go in there. Help Braden Locke, get him ready to go. I know everybody wants to see Mabry out there. He's not getting the start. It's Braden Locke time for right now. Get this guy some confidence. Get him out there, get him ready to go, and if he sucks he sucks. But when I see a confident thrower who sucks, then I just know he sucks. What I saw against Alabama was a guy who was skittish, a guy who really was struggling, right. I don't know if he was just mentally not there or whatever it was. He was not checked into that game. Get him checked in by USC, then we'll know what we got. Then we know if we have to move on from him. Just go to Mabry and just call it a day, right. We need to know that first. He hasn't been playing up to what he can even close to play to, even close to what we saw last year. So everybody's saying that Locke isn't the guy. We might as well just go to Mabry already. Get this guy some confidence first, and then we'll talk. Then we'll talk, then we'll talk about it. Until then we've got to see Braden Locke's confidence in himself. That's going to start with the coaches in practice here before USC. So get this guy ready to go there.
Speaker 1:Last but not least, in the to-do list before this next week or before USC. There the defense has got to regroup. They got to find some pass rush. I mean, man, oh man, you got you bring in these linebackers, you bring in all these guys in the off season there and we're all excited about it. We're like maybe we're going to have a solid defense Once again, have zero pass rush.
Speaker 1:Now the run defense did get better against Alabama. I'm not going to say the run defense didn't get better, but the pass defense, the pass rush defense, stinks. So the Badgers definitely need to regroup in that room. Trestle's got to get those guys ready to go and they got to find a way to put pressure on Mason Miller and this USC Trojan team, because if they don't, they're going to throw the ball all over them there. Right, you got to find a way.
Speaker 1:I know Jalen Milrow is a tough matchup there. It's tough, right, because he's got so many capabilities, but this is a game against USC. We got to see some kind of pass rush put pressure on him At least. If he busts one out for 20 yards after that no-transcript, somebody's eventually going to get open. So you've got to find a way to put pressure on USC and everybody else moving forward there. So the pass defense definitely has to get better coming up. They've got to work on it. They've got to get better this next week here because we've got to see it coming out against USC there, because otherwise the Badgers will drop the 2-2. If the offense can't all that list that I just gave you there, if those things can improve before USC, there's a shot. If they can't improve those things, it's going to be a rough one against USC. We're going to send that two and two and then the rest of the schedule looks daunting down the stretcher. So those are some things that I got there.
Speaker 1:But we're going to talk more about the Badgers coming up on the live show coming up on Friday. They're a big, a big weekend preview, a big weekend preview. Hopefully Aaron's back. He should be, aaron should be back back for the weekend preview. There we're gonna look at it all, from college football, the nfl, everything in between. So you gotta make sure you're checking us out there on every live platform out there. So I'm gonna get into that announcement here to end the show here, but make sure you are checking us out on all them platforms.
Speaker 1:On friday, last but not least, jordan love is back at practice and you gotta love. That's a great sight to see. He's got the. He had a big old brace on that leg or whatchamacallit a sleeve on that leg there. But Jordan Love is back at practice. So you take your wins with your losses Now. Does that mean that he's going to play on Sunday? No, that does not mean he's going to play on Sunday. I am telling you this now and this is the way that I'm playing it. The I'm playing it. The Packers won a game without Jordan Love. They won a game without Jordan Love.
Speaker 1:When I look at this Packers team, I say to myself we're one and one. We have Titans coming up, we have the Vikings after that. Jordan Love does not need to play against the Titans. I would rather have him for Minnesota than against Titans. So I'm looking at Jordan Love, I'm looking at my medical staff and I'm saying to them how do you feel right? And before I'm even letting him out on the field against the Titans, he is going to do some quick stops. I don't know what I got to do have him do killers or what. I'm going to have him do some quick stops, some unorthodox things to do with your leg and see how it feels. See how it feels, because you don't want him to do some unorthodox things. Well, being landed on by a 300 pounder, right, bad things will happen. We don't want to make this injury worse. So we got to see, we got to see jordan love do those little things before I'm letting him out on the field there, because you can't just go through a week of limited practice and then on sunday rolls around. You're just like put them out there and then all of a sudden, one wrong move and boom, he's done Right. And then it's and it's worse. And then we got five weeks or so without them. And then we're looking down this schedule and we're like how are we going to win these games, right? How are we going to stay in contention until he comes back? So you don't rush this process. I make sure he's ready to go.
Speaker 1:Last but not least, with the Packers, marshawn Lloyd onto the IR Not great news. Not great news there. The Packers running back room gets thinner and thinner by the week. It just seems like they are losing guys, losing guys left and right there. So right now you have Josh Jacobs, who is questionable. Right as of right now he was limited at practice. Questionable right as of right now he was limited at practice, had a huge workload, so giving him some time right, limited.
Speaker 1:There you have Emmanuel Wilson and now you have Chris Brooks. Right, you don't have a lot of depth at the running back position. Is that a big problem? I think so. You hope that Marshawn Lloyd can come back sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1:I just don't know where you're going to go get another back right now that is going to make that kind of impact that you're looking for, because you're going to go. You would have to make a trade. Who are you going to make a trade with? You know, everybody who's got a good running back is most likely in contention or they're not looking to make a move. Right, you're not. I don't know if there's anybody out there in free agency you're looking for. So there is an issue in the running back room. You're hoping Emmanuel Wilson and Josh Jacobs stay healthy and you have those two moving forward here and they both keep continuing to play well, cause I think Emmanuel Wilson has started to play well. He's got he definitely improved from last season. Josh Jacobs has been playing well. You hope those guys can stay healthy and you keep on rolling here. You definitely. If something becomes available, I'm looking at it. I'm definitely looking at it, but it's going to be tough. It's going to be tough to find some help in there. So I lied.
Speaker 1:Last but not least, luke Musgrave got his first Wisconsin whitetail buck. Congratulations to Luke Musgrave. That is awesome. That is awesome there. It looked like it was an eight-pointer. It looked like it was an eight-pointer. It was a nice buck. It looked like it was an eight pointer. You know, maybe I I don't know it looked like an eight to me. I could only see. I only saw a little bit one picture of it. I don't know, I didn't look at his instagram completely there. Maybe there's more pictures on there but it looked like an eight. From what I saw, looked like a fantastic buck. So hats off to luke musgrave getting his first white tail. Uh, wisconsin white tail, to love it. Got to love it there for Luke Musgrave, hopefully, hopefully, sticking around for a little while there, because I love the tight end room that Green Bay has with Tucker Craft and Luke Musgrave Both fantastic tight ends there. So with that, that's about all I got for today.
Speaker 1:Remember, I posted it out there yesterday on TikTok and some other platforms, but the schedule is going to change up a little bit for the show. We're going to have lives, so we're going to go live on Twitch, twitter, YouTube, facebook, hopefully, wherever we can go live, we're going to go live on it there. Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trage, wisco Sports on the go with Trage all those different platforms will be on there. You can find us there on Sunday nights, tuesday nights and Friday nights. Make sure you subscribe and like the page, that way, once we go live, you can automatically give your notification. You know when we're live out there. We'd love to hear your voice, your opinions on Wisconsin sports there, and I mean with those lives. If you miss the live, all the podcasts, all those shows will be available next day. So the Sunday one will be on Monday, tuesday will be for Wednesday and Friday will be available on Saturday there.
Speaker 1:So a little bit of a gap in between some of the shows there Give me a little bit more time to prepare shows, everything like that.
Speaker 1:But don't get me wrong. If there's anything crazy that happens in between those time periods, on Tuesdays or Thursdays or anything like that, we're definitely going to come live here, or if it's breaking break, it will come live. Otherwise we'll shoot a little bit of a show, get it going for you there and hopefully you're able to check it out up there. So, anywhere you can find us like, subscribe, share us, let your friends know about the show, we definitely love to have them in. We definitely love to get their opinions and reviews and everything like that on the show. Because your reviews help me grow, help me to better understand Wisconsin sports and Wisconsin sports fandom, because there's nothing better than being a fan of Wisconsin sports there. So with that, this has been Wisconsin Sports Time to Go with Trage. Thank you guys for listening. I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Thursday, but until I talk to you guys again tomorrow night, deuces.