Week 1 Preview: Western Michigan vs Wisconsin

[Music] bur again back opening pass by pass 10 and he goes all the way to the 15 yd line 17 y the welcome back to believe in Badgers on the believe Network presented by betonline.ag and Oakbridge wealthmanagement I'm Matt Perkins joined as always by Badger Legend the Hebrew hammer himself Matt Bernstein and his daughter Ruby today Bernie how you doing D Daddy Daycare is in full effect right now uh we got Ruby she's wearing two twos and touchdowns for the week that we are in you know I'm always rocking my red uh we are thrilled that Friday is Friday right back to sports back to Wisconsin Badger football man I I I'm I got the butterflies like I'm gonna run out of the tunnel and I might not even watch the game at 9:00 eastern time it's too late for me so uh I'm just couldn't be happy and I'm also really excited Matt burkins I know this is what we're talking about but like what are we going to look like like what are we going to be I have no idea and that is why we are going to answer uh a six-pack of questions here in just a minute uh for I guess our week one preview show um that we'll call it's kind of a season preview show a little bit we've had people on we've had Jake on we've had a bunch of people on to talk about SE the upcoming season but you know what G to throw just the two of us here um as this drops on a Thursday the day before uh the badger season gets started before we get into that though want to remind everyone tuning in that we are presented by betonline.ag and BetOnline is the world's most trusted betting platform and your number one source for everything football bet online has every stat every matchup and even live odds and spreads to bet on during the game think you know your stuff get in on our $200,000 Mega contest and pick five games against the spread every week for your chance at weekly prizes and a share of $200,000 when the game's over head on over to the online casino get in on a game of blackjack or poker or unwind with over 150 different slot games head to the website today that's betonline.ag to get in on the action bet online the game starts here and obviously our good friend Chris Ana setting in Oakbridge wealth management if you are a current or future professional athlete Uh current Collegiate athlete with nil money and Deals get your money right with Chris anetti and his team over at Oakbridge weal management they do one thing and that is take care of athletes they know how hard you work on the field they want to make sure that your money is working for you off the field so you can focus on your game get in touch with Chris and his team for them to get make a bespoke wealth plan for you uh get in touch with Chris on Instagram at Oakbridge anetti that's Oakbridge an i c te or at Oakbridge wealth mgmt.com that's Chris anetti and Oakbridge wealth Health Management get your money right Bernie uh I know you've uh been getting your money right you gota you know you got to be saving these days with two kids running around going up the Alabama game here shortly um which I'm very jealous of but nonetheless um burn it is week one so I've got that sixpack of questions for you I think we're going to call it the varsity golden ale uh sixpack of questions we hope you guys are supporting um The Varsity Collective with their new beer which is on sale at Camp Randall Stadium this fall Bernie um so I guess that uh brings me to uh I guess we're going to have uh I I don't know we're gonna have a pregame question for you quickly how do you feel about uh selling beer at the stadium this year you know I've never had trouble getting drunk before the game or staying drunk during the game or being drunk after the game um not saying people are drunk but you know listen I'm all for it as long as there's some kind of systems in place that keep people safe and happy you know I people tailgate so nicely before the games they chill they love the game while it's going on I'm on both sides but I am excited to get a beer at the stadium if I want one um I do I did always like the break in you know consumption but let's just do it dude let's let's make that money let's make the money um you know and let's help uh Let's Help the farsy collective you know make that money get more nil and continue to keep Badger Athletics rolling okay official six-pack of questions uh Bernie we're gonna we're going to pop the top here on the first one and uh my I guess it's kind of my biggest question what does the front six look like how does the front six align without James Thompson so what are your thoughts here burn the Badgers released their initial death chart with just two down linemen um uh on it with with uh Kurt Neil and Ben Barton listed as the two starters at generic defensive line uh and four starters at linebacker so how are we feeling about that D this has been a a concern of mine since last year um and it's grown I think as I've talked myself into this weird place of the 33 you know I'm very concerned I mean our downline and our our run stopping ability was low last year and we have some fantastic DBS so I think there's two thoughts one I think we're going to match up extremely well against teams in the past the the question is can we get to the quarterback and can we stop the run and last year we didn't do either one of those so as we go into the season like I'm excited to see what that looks like I'm very nervous about it but we have obviously upgraded our linebackers so if our dline is the the the most uh potential you know they're not the best guys on the team yet I think we put a lot of good athletes around them to to be better than we were last year right like I think we going to be better better than we were last year I I think so as well I I mean Thompson hurts a ton and I think that uh we're that's gonna give more John Pas uh playing with his hand in the ground sort of almost as a quasi D end you saw him do that a little bit at William and Mary before he got here I think on passing downs we'll see Jem Thomas sort of going around to the edge um as well and you know maybe putting his hand in the dirt we've seen Daryl Peterson um the outside linebacker put his hand on the dirt in a multiple uh different alignments I would assume we get more of that as well so um I I think that a lot of the uh sort of the Dirty Work more of the dirty work than should be done as going to have to be done by the linebackers I think they're they're really going to have to um be able to really take on um offensive lineman more um than they were than than they're asked to do especially I mean if you got two down linan you know that's going to be those guys might both be getting double teamed on you know darn near every single play so it's it's going to be tough for the linebackers I think we have the athleticism at linebacker to overcome that at least to a certain degree but it's definitely a concern it's interesting to see you know who's going to get snaps I think they've talked about wanting six guys to rotate through there do we see true freshman Dylan Johnson who people have talked about now you know the the you know state champion wrestler from Illinois one of the you know best heavyweights in the history of that State uh does he get action early on um how have you know some of the younger guys have a couple transfers in there Elijah Hills in the 2D from Albany Brandon lane from Stephen F Austin not in the two deep which was I think a little bit of a surprise but I do expect him to see some snaps and be in the rotation so I'm curious to see how much rotation there is how many these guys are used and how they're being used together I guess is sort of the real question for me and also dudes need to step up I mean when one guy goes down people need to step in and play and some of these guys are you know coach white said it best about ad like that dude was a baller on Game Day right and some of these guys gonna have to do that so listen I'm excited I think the two warm-up games you know Western Michigan and uh who's South Dakota South Dakota I keep getting though I got that jammed up I was saying South Dakota and buffalo that Buffalo was last year I I think those you know these two games are huge for us to to warm us up to get dudes ready to play a major program I think this is exactly what we need for the defense you know these teams are better than the scout team by a lot but they're not Alabama so I think you're going to see I want to limit if I had to test tell you I want to limit mental errors listen physical errors you can you can correct it's really hard to break down you know mental errors and consistent breaking down of like if you're in the right spot but you don't make the play you're going to make it the next time you can work on that right but but mentally if you are always in the wrong spot that's going to be tough I mean you can work on it but that's going to be brutal and then you don't want to see that for the first game right you want to you want to build on games and get better and better mental errors are are killers um but our offense has to stay on the field more well yeah exactly offense has to stay on the field more and I think that brings me to question number two uh can the offense stay on the field longer and keep Tyler van djk upright um because last year tan morai was was feeling a lot of pressure a lot of time uh and didn't have a lot of time to throw the ball I should say so what does the pass blocking look like this year um with you know three returning uh uh yeah three returning starters plus Jake Renfro who started in the Bull game um what does that offensive line look like and can they keep uh you know the transfer quarterback with the big arm upright long enough to use that big arm to take shots downfield I mean they're all veterans they've all played a lot of football I have to say yes I mean if this is a if this is a line that we're saying maybe or no we are really in trouble these are good guys like they're they are good football players and they have to go out there and they still have to compete and work and win but do I think we can keep them upright I think for sure we can I think our pass blocking ability you look at brilon Allen now in the NFL that dude three years ago didn't pick up one pass blocker now he's crushing people so they're really asking these guys to do it and the backs are stepping up and I think that's what we have to do now I would like to see some chipping of the DNS if they have some studs out there maybe not you know South Dakota and maybe not Western Michigan but there's ways to use backs to really offset D line but I have to say we're going to win a majority of snaps with the guys we have this year and if you just look at I mean the what 48 minutes of the bowl game 40 40 six minut whatever it was we played great football at the line and having Reno in and healthy I think is a huge huge plus I I just think the offense has to be like what we what do we hang our hat on this year I think we got the defense is going to take some time with injuries doesn't help I think the offense has to stay on the field we got to score points and we have to control the ball so the defense isn't out there all the time I couldn't agree with that more and that brings us to question number three because in order to do that I think they need a much more sustainable Run game The Run game last year was just uh at at times was uh lumpy I guess is the best way to put it like it felt like there were way too many tackles for loss and a lot of that was after the chz maloi injury so my third question uh how much chz do we see especially in the first two weeks coming back from injury um and then the correl with that is which young backs do we see and how and how much run will they get in the first couple games but my question for you then burn is how much chz do you think we see uh you know especially in week one in the opener he's been listed as the starter um you know with tobby Walker number two behind him but it would surprise me let's just if he got 25 carries in the first game you know I I how much will we see him I don't want to see him a lot even at all almost I I don't think the first two games are not where he needs to be for us to win games he needs to be on the field and he needs to be healthy he needs to be on the field November he needs to be on the field November for sure but he needs to be on the field for Alabama and the two first games these are not you know listen even if we lost both games it's not the end of the world for the Big 10 season I don't think that's gonna happen but I think chz needs to get maybe two maybe the first series on both you know first maybe he gets the first two Series in the first quarter just like NFL preseason and he's out no matter what's happening game first off I think tywi is going to be awesome and he could take a beating I don't want him to take a beating but I think this game you know this is where you find Jackson AER can take a pounding he's good yelli these guys have played and you can put them in in these games you know this is the whole reason we play these games for everyone to get a little bit of a look so do we need our first string to play when our fourth and fifth string have been successful in our in this offense no I mean I personally would rather see chz play 10 snaps at best first game let him just get out there and get a feel for it don't be like yeah one more play dude no don't do that as a coach you're like dude you guys's feeling it let's us leave them in don't do it we have guys we have young dudes who can get some looks also I don't think we need to put those guys in I I I think we I to answer that question not a lot now to answer your other question we need the Run game but I think we have wide receivers and skill guys I mean wide receivers to me who can make things happen and you have to guard Pauling you have to guard um trch I mean there's there are dudes now you have to guard all of them I mean who who don't you have to guard Williams you got to the you got to the fourth one in the six-pack before I could even you know before I could even open it I thought you went there first no my question my my fourth question is who steps up at wide receiver next to will Pauling um you know it we we assume it's going to be Bryson Green but you know there are uh you know listed in the two deep we've got Tres kakuno who you mentioned behind will Pauling at the slot um they've got CJ Williams and Vinnie Anthony we saw Chris Brooks's name um in the two deep which was um you know a an interesting sign at um sort of uh the X receiver as a big guy because he's someone who I think a lot of people have been really high on his big play ability and see if he can you know step up this season so I'm I'm curious though burn who do you think besides will is going to be sort of the focal point in the pass game I think they all have to be I mean it has to be a unit thing I you're laughing I know it but it has to be I mean you know like when I look back you had Lee Evans you had Brandon Williams you had Jonathan or and you had um Dar Charles you had Brandon white I mean you're talking about like you had dudes everywhere on the field and you had Owen Daniels and then you had um our guy tra Speck you're talking about there's not a drop I mean from Lee to everyone else maybe but like to Brandon Williams to Jonathan or to Darren Charles there's not a Hu these aren't huge drop BR be white so I expect that in these guys right I don't expect Bryson Green to be the best and C.J Williams to be like 50% him I think after last year all those dudes want more balls thrown at them you know imagine if Sky Bell didn't drop any of those balls it's a Hu those are all big plays what do you have five of them so imagine if um Bryson Green has five catches for what 200 yards I mean it's could happen but those were those were 30 plus were big ones yeah yeah so so you you talk about that I think I think if we can get you know TRS up and up and running I think Bryson CJ Williams I think Vinnie Anthony I mean these guys can all play I'm much more concerned with the tight end position I'm really you know what as we speak I'm not concerned that these guys aren't going to step up I liked the way they went about their business last year I just think we couldn't get them the ball cuz we couldn't we weren't off on the offensive line and we were off on the snap and we were off on you know QB stuff and these guys just couldn't get the ball enough to them and we couldn't stay on the field so think about that three and out every time with two runs you you have four wide receivers they only one guy get the ball thrown to them so uh I'm hoping that we can be on the field you know I'm hoping that we can spread teams out and I think that comes with Tyler van djk who can probably who's going to wing it all over the field and who's going to take some shots which I like and I think we have guys who can go get the ball yeah something that you've mentioned a couple times now is sustained drives and a lot of those drops we saw last year we also on third down and I think that you know obviously it sort of it feeds itself right the longer you have sustained drives the more that you have um uh you know more time your defense gets to rest on gets to rest it's you know it plays into itself and so I think that you know you have to avoid the negative plays right you have to avoid the big sacks and things like that if they're going to sort of play that complimentary football that they need to do which is sort of The Next Step before you know really sort of taking off and becoming more dominant they have to be able to um have you know be in more cohesion and with that uh question five uh the third phase of the football will we have seen improve special teams Bernie so I guess my first question then within that will there be a kickoff out of bounds in in opening week yes of course they will of course they will I mean I I don't want to just because we said it it will have it um I I can't I I think listen our special teams weren't that bad last year we just kicked the ball out of bounds six times If you eliminate that I think that's very helpful you know I I I also the offense stays out in the field more you're going to see more field goals we got to be proficient in field goal kicking and if we could just kick the ball literally out of the end zone we'll be fine I mean you know everyone says you got to change um what the position on the field right and that's that's a huge part of the game especially with our defense that that might bend more than we want them to we need more yardage for them to have the opportunity to stop a team so I would like to see us be able to punt and pin teams back and put them in bad positions do I think that's going to happen I mean I have to think we'll be better than we were last year I mean there just seems they're just yes we'll be better I certainly hope so um I'm excited though about the uh prospects of Vinnie Anthony and Tyrell Henry in the return game um you know chimy was was a very safe choice I feel like Vinnie um especially has the chance to uh be special once the ball's in his hands so I am I'm more excited about the return game than I have been Since Aaron krook shank was returning kicks for Wisconsin um but you know it's it's been a minute I feel like since you can really feel good about you know about what's going on there so I've been you Anthony is an electric player I love that kid man I love that kid you think it's easy to like catch a ball in space and then run when there might not be anyone near you but you literally it's a that's the it's think about that you have 11 dudes running down the field trying to tackle you you have dudes blocking they could be 20 yards away they could be right up in your face you catch a ball and you try to do things it takes a special human being to be able to do that and I mean I did it in high school it's a joke like I get tackled every five seconds but when you have a guy like Vinnie Anthony a guy like Jimmy Leonard Brandon white back there those guys can make things happen and if they can make something happen at special teams the stat that if you have a special teams touchdown where you like 25% more likely to win if you have a special teams and a defensive touchdown it's almost impossible to lose so like I love that guy back there I think it's really exciting um when you know teams are going to be kicking off I just want I I just hope and I don't know if this is true or not but I'm I'm hoping that they put good starting potential guys on the punt return on the kick return guys who are gonna even if they don't start you know guys who are going to bust their butt to make that block and to do everything they can for five six plays a game to do to a block so so Vinnie can run that's what we did for Jimmy now I always say Jimmy uh didn't fair catch any balls so that's not true I watched a lot of film on our teams and he did only in like the worst situations you could possibly like when nobody was blocked he did it so I'm hoping that we can get guys out there we can cover them up and give Vinnie a chance to at least change the field position a little bit for us yeah they I mean they're they're going to need it if they're going to pull off some of these bigger upsets against Alabama against Oregon um you know against some of the top tier teams that they're playing you have to be you know got to be sound in the kicking game or or whatever the old adage is so um and then uh the final uh question then that I have Bernie is uh what is the final record for the Badgers this regular season tell me what you think first I am I'm an internal Optimist um which is a problem it gets me in way over my head way too often 10- two maybe nine and three but I 10 and two uh I don't know why I believe that they're going to beat Alabama but I believe that they're going to beat Alabama I there's something feels right about that and I don't know why um I feel like losses will be Oregon and uh I and Iowa I just I feel like Iowa has kind of owned Wisconsin recently I think they're going to be really good again so um I like I think Wisconsin will beat USC at USC I think they will beat Penn State at home but I I I don't trust Iowa and I think Oregon might be the best team in the country or at least they're in the top three for sure that's so interesting oh sorry Ruby you're back awake go back to sleep this is boring you I know um I actually think that they well Crush Iowa I mean yes IA has our number that was the most boring game I've ever watched was like Ninth at six there we let me move past that I think we have some tough I'm a nine and three right now I think we have some extremely tough games I don't think any team in the Big 10 is a push over anymore I think all that thought process has to be thrown out the window like the west division the East Division you know playing teams like Indiana and Northwestern that's all gone because you can get dudes for a year that are much better than the guys you had coming up and the transfer portal and nil has changed everything and now teams don't just stink for years every year it's a different team so I want to throw that out the window because we competed against some teams last year that looked great against us sadly um but I'm nine and three I think Oregon's going to be I mean they might be the best team in the country I think we have some really tough games I think they're all winnable but I think we have some tough games I think Alabama is going to be extremely tough I mean but it's home so I like those odds 11 o'clock game doesn't make me super pumped but what are you going to do um I think USC away for the first time going to California is not easy like I remember traveling far distance it's really tough it's not the NFL it's it's difficult so we got that going what do you think Penn State's gonna be tough yeah kid it'll be tough I will all these teams are going to be tough Minnesota will be tough Nebraska will be tough oh Nebraska is a sleeper yeah a lot of people like nebras they got the true freshman quarterback Dylan Rola but which we all know too well about that kid listen I'll tell you going there that's a scary game they're not they're going to be good this year I think so yeah they're gonna be good I think so you this catnap just during the time that we were on she fell asleep now she's Wide Awake well that's perfect timing then because uh Bernie we drank up that six-pack pretty quick here so we uh we will let you go back to running Daddy Daycare um here but uh we hope that everyone is able to tune in and enjoy the game and tune back in with us for Monday morning fullback for a full recap of the game uh coming at you first thing Monday morning uh yes that's coming up we're back baby we are back um and uh while you're at it uh make sure that you are checking out our friends uh James White soran Shelton Warren Herring over at the money down podcast as well but uh that is going to do it for us here today on believe in Badgers um and uh pres on the believe Network Pres presented by betonline.ag and Oakbridge wealth management appreciate you tuning in until next time on Wisconsin come on rubs on Wisconsin ah two twos and touchdowns baby let's go that's all we want is touchdowns no defense on the field ever