Wisconsin Huddle: Badgers running back Chez Mellusi talks upcoming season

And we're back. Welcome in to Buck and honeys in Sun Prairie for another season of Wisconsin Huddle. I'm Zach Hanley, alongside Chez Mellusi, Chez, thanks for being here. Of course. So you're finally healthy heading into the season. How does that feel after the last three years of just battling injuries? I mean, it feels really good. You know, I'm in a good spot emotionally, physically. And, you know, I'm just excited to get the year started. Now I'm paraphrasing here because in the spring you said you're not injury prone. You just have blank luck. Bad luck. How tough was it just to keep battling back, you know, going through the ACL, the broken wrist and then more recently the broken leg? Yeah, I mean it's tough I mean injuries are part of sports. And once you kind of accept that you know it's kind of just how how fast can you come back and you know how how much stronger you can come back. And I have a lot of good people in my corner, and I make it really easy for me to, like, go through tough things. So, I mean, in the grand scheme of things, just finding silver linings and just coming back better than you were before is kind of just how I do it. Well, last year, fall camp started at Camp Platteville, but this year their stay was a little longer, at UW Platteville. Instead of a one week stay, it was a two week stay, and it was a trip that you guys were looking forward to. To the food was a hit last year, and what's better than football 24/7? Not much for a group that was a little better prepared for their stay, this time around. I've made improvements this year and brought two pillows instead of one. Brought my own blanket. Brought my own soap. So brought my own towel. So I'm I'm much more, geared up and ready to go this year. Food was great there, I remember that breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, like the cooks chefs that I had over there was really good. One thing Coach Fick want to do is make sure we know each other as brothers, you know, and go like to hero hardship highlight thing. And, we get to express ourselves our backgrounds honestly each other deeply understand our why. Well our mission here to do. Did you bring anything different this year than you did last year? Definitely. Last year. I mean, I had idea of what was going to be going on, but we were in the dorm, we were in twin beds. So like, I didn't bring I brought one pillow last year. I brought like a little blanket and no mattress pad. This year I brought all those things and I brought a fan, so I was a lot more, everyone, the whole team was a lot more prepared. Some people brought TVs, some people brought like expensive mattress pad. So like, I mean, I was prepared. Yeah. Who was your roommate? This year, my roommate was Kamo'i Latu Last year it was, Braelon Allen Is Kamo'i a good roommate? Yeah, yeah. Doesn't snore or anything. No no no no no no, that's why I chose him. Okay. Actually, last year, Braelon, Braelon was a snorer. So I chose someone that. I know that I know didn't snore. You did your research this time around. Well, do you feel that this group got what they wanted to accomplish at Platteville? Most definitely. I think you know what Coach Fick and the staff are trying to accomplish. There is just kind of like you said, football 24 seven, but also a sense of camaraderie. Like you don't you don't see regular people like you don't even see cars on the street. It's just us there, you know. So like it's football all day, every day. So I mean, it it definitely gets the job done for sure. Well, one of those things that was accomplished in Platteville naming a starting quarterback this year's QB one is Tyler Van Dyke. After earning the job, you could sense a little relief from the Miami transfer, but he also knows the job's not done. Now it's time to prove he's the guy that can take the Badgers to the next level. Yeah, it means a lot. It means the coaches believe in me, means the players believe in me. And, I'm just glad they gave me this opportunity to, you know, get some revenge for myself and, you know, bring some greatness to Wisconsin. Decision making. Part of it is good. The big arm is really a bonus for us. And his mobility is a bonus. So the three things you would hope to have in a quarterback we have right now, well, we got to take a quick break. But more from Buck and honeys in Sun Prairie, after this. My dad's Italian restaurant. So I grew up eating Italian food. Pizza all the time. Every night. Almost 7.987. Welcome back to Wisconsin huddle. Now Wisconsin opens up their season against Western Michigan under the lights at Camp Randall Stadium. It's the sixth meeting between the two, with the Badgers leading the all time series 4 to 1. And in home games against unranked opponents, UW is hard to beat at night. They're 15 and 0 in those contests, and you could say the Badgers are excited about kicking off their season from the spring and then go to fall camp playing at the same guys again. You know, we're ready to just hit somebody different, man. And you can you can see it got a little chippy at the end. You know how it always does in fall camp. So we're excited and we're ready. We're ready to get after some some other people for sure. Chez, got to ask, what does this week feel like? What's the game week feel like? Yeah, I mean, the preparation is pretty much the same in terms of how we practice and like how hard we go. But, you know, the kind of that feeling like you have the game, a game at the end of the week is a little different. You know, you kind of feel like I wouldn't say butterflies, but you get really excited. I mean, I know, I mean, I know the whole team really is as well. Welcome in the Bucky's Beasts. I'm Zach and I'm Andrew. And each week we're breaking down Wisconsin's Beast of the week. First, I'd like to introduce you to the sweet, sweet sounds of Badger offensive lineman Derek Jensen on check out Will Pauling likes the song. Not sure what's going to happen. And then bang! DJ hits him with some harmony. My head spinnin' that big man has some pipes. Hey, there's Jack Nelson, future first round draft pick. He's the anchor of the O-line. Nothing rattles this guy. Wait a minute. Jensen's got him looking like he's in junior high and the Backstreet Boys are on stage inside here. You are absolutely perfect pitch. And Hunter Wohler knows it. Throw up the one, boys. It's over. But Zach, let's not forget about the guy that trains him to get those strong vocal cords. Check out Ryan Ross. He's Bucky's assistant director of strength and conditioning. And you got to have strong hands to pound keys like that. Jake Renfro is like, whoa, whoa. The big man isn't just strong. He is almost poetic with those fingers. Look at him dance up and down the keyboard. Just call Ryan Ross the piano man, Zach, because Elton John's got nothing on him. So Ryan and Derek, congrats on being our first beasts of the week. It's been gone for way too long, and so I've played it. Probably more than I need to. But I mean, ratings. Great. Obviously, you always want to be higher, but, I mean, I'm not complaining. It's it's cool just being in the game. Overall, I was pretty surreal. I was the second fastest quarterback, which was. Which was great. So I can hold that over their heads. But they gave me like 58 strength. I don't know if I agree with that. I do not like the rating no I'm not no 78. That's too low for me. I thought like this damn 78, I'm saying No offense to Curt. But like, come on man. I had you know, I had a little bit more stats and that, you know what I'm saying? Like, I, didn't know I was that of course everybody would want they rating higher. At least I'm in the 80s though I see some people that is in the 70s and 60. I feel kind of good about that. But of course I want to bump that up this year. You know, my family and friends, you know, playing with my character and sending me videos and stuff and then, you know, getting the hateful DMs where I threw interceptions for guys, that's been pretty funny. So, no, I love it. It's, you know, that game is this kind of a part of our childhoods in a lot of ways. And so to be able to have that back and enjoy that and see yourself on there, I mean, it's pretty, pretty awesome feeling. Welcome back into Buck and honeys in Sun Prairie. Chez, I'm guessing part of the reason you chose to transfer to Wisconsin is because of that rich running back tradition, right? Definitely. I mean, it speaks for itself. All right. So we're going to play a little guessing game here. It's called. Which one are you from RBU I'm going to give you three clues for each badger. And then after I'm done reading the clues you're going to name them okay. Are you ready? Yep. All right. Number one has been called Mr. 408 a time or two, holds the program record for most rushing yards in a quarter and in a season. A Wisconsin a native that should have won the Heisman. What do you got? Melvin Gordon. All right. That was too easy that was way too easy. All right. One of two badgers to rush for over two K twice a two time Doak Walker Award winner and sits second on UW all time career rushing list after just a three year career in Madison. JT Jonathan Taylor. All right, Chez, if you don't get this one, I don't think you could play on Friday. This is too easy. Okay. Let me hear it. Carried the ball 50 times against Minnesota. Rushing for 297 yards against the Gophers in one game. He's UW's all time career rusher and a Heisman winner. I don't want to mess his last name up. You got it. You got it. All right, Ron Dayne. Three for three Chez. All right. Who's your Mount Rushmore of Wisconsin running backs? The hard part, I guess, is just picking four. Yeah. I mean, Ron Dayne's obviously, I think the cornerstone of that. I think he's up there, obviously. Melvin, Montee, two three. And one more. I would. I think you got to go, James White. Okay, I think just I mean, he's I'm gonna be a little biased, but he's from Florida, so, I think just like what he did in the backfield that he had and was still able to, you know, accomplish what he did and how versatile he was. And I think what he did in the NFL as well, I think puts him up there for me. What about JT? You know, in three years. Oh, man. Maybe I'll just add on. Can I do a fifth one? Yeah, we'll just add because JT is definitely up there. I'm tripping. I think with, you know, with JT is just like, how consistently he was his how durable is how durable he was. I think he definitely up there as well. So I think there's five of them. All right. We got to take a quick break. But more from Buck and Honeys in Sun Prairie after this. Since EA sports brought back their college football game, we're going to play the game. You're going to be Wisconsin. I'm going to be who ever you're playing. We're going to do this two minute quarters. How do you feel about yourself? I feel pretty good. Yeah. You play the game of course, at home. Camp Randall, Can't beat it. Great. I haven't played it yet. So this should be interesting. Let's do it. Is it weird playing as yourself? Not really. You get used to it pretty fast. Oh. And then. An interception Did he pick that? Yeah. Off the ground. So we just all Chez Mellusi runs on offense? I mean, it depends on who I'm playing. I think that if they have a good defense, I try to spread out a little bit. and he takes it in for a score. Are you always Wisconsin. Do you always play or is it. It depends who I'm playing. If someone else is like a powerhouse, I'll try to be Wisconsin. But I like using like super mobile quarterbacks. Yeah. So I'll switch it up. What was that moment like when you first handed the ball off to Chez Mellusi? I mean, like, it's a crazy feeling because like as a kid, you always put yourself in the game and you're not really in the game. So I mean, it was pretty surreal, like actually being in the game as an actual character, It's Pauling. And he throws another interception. His third of the night Where are you going? I want I want the offense to have the ball. Oh you want you want Chez to get another You want Chez to get another touchdown. I get weird, I look terrible. Are you reading my defense a little bit? Yeah. The red zone got his man. Touchdown! Badgers. I'm just bringing the house every time. Man down. And now, just fourth interception of the game. Knew it was coming. Yeah yeah yeah. Well Chez 31 nothing. And you are the player of the game. You didn't break 100. What the heck? Two TDs though. Yeah. How do you feel. Good I mean I played this game often. It's not chess. Yeah. All right well I don't want to look at the score anymore or the highlights. More from Wisconsin huddle after the break. And welcome back to Buck and Honeys in Sun Prairie. Personally, this is my favorite part of the show. And we've got a little twist to this week's fill in the fit. Normally, we break down Luke Fickell's game day suit, but since it's week one, we had the guys break down their teammates. Big Ten Media Day fits. You want me to be honest? And I'm going to give Jake a four out of ten. I'm going to give Jake a four. I just wish his pants matched his jacket. I mean, blue's not a bad with this, but. And I'm more like a slim fit when it comes to tuxes. This is my my preference. More of a slimmer fit and thing. And Jake's got a nice physique, you know? Not in a weird way, but I feel like some tighter with a, you know, fitting him a little better on that. So with them, Jack, I'll give him eight out of ten. Well, out of ten. Nice pants, nice jacket, matching nice shoes. Looks like it fits, pretty well. I'll say. I'll say. I'll say eight out of ten for Jack Hunt. I'll say a six out of ten. I like the jacket. I don't know, it's just I wouldn't wear it if I like it, though. I mean, I like the jacket, though. It's cool. But yeah, I'd say a six for Hunt, so yeah, I said six. So Jake, I'll give him. I give him, eight out of ten. I give my eight out of ten. I feel like that's pretty smooth, you know what I'm saying? Like, I like the little tie a little, you know, I like that Nelly. I'll give him a he look like a businessman for real. I'll give him, like, I'll give him a seven. Just because, honestly. No, I'll give him a seven and a half. I go seven. The half. It's is simple, but it's, you know, it's put together, I like it, I like the little watch bling. And then I'll give Hunt Hunt nine and a half. I give him a nine and a half. I feel like he really put it on. I like the I like the color pop. But yeah, so that's say I like Cheney's fit. Pants are a little baggy for my style. You know, I like the coat ties all nice. Give it a seven out of ten. Jack, I like his suit. I like the cowboy boots. I like how everything matches. Of course the watch, can't forget about the watch. I give his a nine out of ten, and then Hunter's. I like the shoes. The pants look great. The red jacket is slick. Yeah, I think he. I think he looks pretty good. I give him nine, nine and a half. All right Chez, Jake Chaney, Jack Nelson and Hunter Wohler got suited up in Indy, starting with Jake. How would you rate their look? So out of ten, I'm gonna give Jake Chaney a seven. I like the traditional look. You know, I think he could have tailored the pants a little bit better at the bottom. Me personally, I think Jack, I think Jack did his thing. I think he screams offensive lineman, and I, I really like the all gray look with the brown shoes and the tie fits. I'm gonna give him a 9 or 9. Yeah, I'm gonna give him a nine. Okay, so Hunter's got some work to do if he wants to get on the scale. You know, the thing about Hunter's fit, I really like the the gray pants with the with the gray tie and then the the bright suit jacket. I think that was smart. So I'm going to give him an 8.5. You know, I think that if anyone was to walk through the door, I think that we that represents Wisconsin well. So all right. And that's it for this week's Wisconsin huddle. Just a reminder. You can come out to next week's live taping at Buck and Honeys in Sun Prairie on Tuesday, September 3rd for Chez, Mellusi I'm Zach Hanley. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next week.