Mondays With Matt Presented By Middleton Ford - Monday October 23rd

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
One to one point five ib AFMMadison's Classic Rock with your Floyd Fix as
we welcome in the Voice of theWisconsin Badgers Matt lepe Mondays with Matt,
presented by Middleton Ford. Matt.So, are you sir doing well?
Ben? How's it going doing greatshere? So it wasn't the best overall
game for the Badgers on Saturday,but they they you know, they won.

(00:21):
They pulled it out. They tookdown to Illinois twenty five to twenty
one. So before I kind ofhave you dive into the recap for those
who listened to it, you andMark did a great job of kind of
laying it out there. We sawit too of people who watch it on
TV, but kind of talk abouthow windy and those conditions in Champagne on
Saturday. Yeah, it seems likeit's always windy when who are down there.

(00:43):
I mean, it's it's what wecall the flatlanders for a reason down
there in Illinois, and it's ayou know, it's a really nice stadium
and they feel the renovated it throughthe years, but it's it sits out
in the middle of flat country.So and it was throughout the course of
the game. I mean, itreally didn't back off much out of the
north northwest, and you know,the gust had to be thirty plus pretty

(01:04):
consistently. It was twenty to thirtyall days, so that was you know,
it's an issue going into it andeven the times going with it,
and Luke Fickls talked about that youstill have to adjust accordingly. So yeah,
it just it added to it.That's life in the Midwest, that's
life in Big ten football. Sobut it definitely was was something that was

(01:26):
I mean, there were times wherethey had spotted the ball and the wind
was blowing the ball off of thespot. So just one of those days.
I've seen a lot like that throughthe years, but it was it
was definitely something that they had tocontend with for three and a half hours
on Saturday. Yeah, and Imean, you know, it was another
game where we saw kind of theoffense, I don't want to say stronggle
but they really could not get donewhat they wanted to do in that first

(01:49):
half. But really toward the endof the first half, kind of that
last drive, Brandon Locke really kindof started to get things together. Brandon
and Allen while he's just continuing todo what he's done this year is the
Big Tens leading rusher. They putthe ball in the end zone that really,
you know, put them on apath for the success they ended up
having in the second half. Yeah, it struggled, you could say that.
You could say the offense struggled fora good chunk of that game.

(02:13):
But that touchdown near the end ofthe half was huge because you know it.
Look, if you're looking for stylepoints for Wisconsin, don't I guess
that would be I mean, youcould say fans can think whatever they want
to cass so, but I justthink if you're looking for pretty every week,
this probably ain't it for you.Not unlike the Packers. At least

(02:37):
the Badgers are winning a little bitmore. But that the touchdown, you
know, you go down fourteen points, that's a problem. So getting that
score late in the first half washuge, and yet they got down fourteen
again. Yeah, this was somethingPatrick Hurb mentioned this. This is the
first Big Ten game that that anybodyknows of where Wisconsin came back from fourteen

(03:05):
down to win in regulation. Therewas an overtime game, triple overtime game
a few years ago, but it'sthe first time that they've rallied from fourteen
down period to win a big tengame in regulation, and the fact that
they were able to do that knowingthat there's they've been struggling offensively, that
would appear to be an unlikely occurrence, but credit to them for being able

(03:28):
to pull them off. Talking withMatt Lapey, the voice of the Wisconsin
Badgers, Mondays with Matt, presentedby Middleton Ford here on IBFM. So,
yes, we know the Badgers won, but that that call from Phil
Longo the Stones, if you will, he has to essentially send the left
tackle out on a pass to catcha touch. It's just it still blows

(03:49):
my mind that he, you know, had the confidence to do that.
How shocked were you? And especiallyhow what does smile on Towser's face?
He had to have been just excitedto be on belief. Oh he was,
and he's so excited. Yeah,they's had I told Stickele he's going
to be insufferable. There is anoffensive lineman. Look, this is this
is the classic case and we're guiltyof it as fans, and we're guilty

(04:14):
of it in the media. Itworked, so it was stones. If
it didn't then he's an idiot.I mean, that's just how it works,
right A. Coordinators know it,coaches know it. But it's a
play that they have they've worked onis mark and I mentioned they've had this
in the bag for a little bit. Breaking it out then and there was

(04:35):
that was gutsy, right, Imean, either way, if it didn't
work, it's a gutsy decision tomake. So they went tackle over to
the right. They had Jack Nelsonthe left tackle. He flipped to the
right side. They had moved oneof the tight ends over on that side
of the formation, so they wereheavy on the right. Another tight end,
Haydon Rouchie, moved into the backfieldand he let his little brother air

(04:59):
quotes winding up as a left tackle, but he had changed his jersey to
an eligible number, and everything suggestedit was going to go to the right.
Uh, Nolan Roucci leaked out tothe left and big boy was all
alone and he's still I mean,it wasn't easy. He had to go
up and get it, so hehad to show soft hands to make the

(05:19):
catch. And I was, youknow, maybe as much as anything,
I was impressed, but he hadthe presence of mind to bow to his
adoring public to he made the catchit and he took up bow. So
good for good for Nolan. Imean, I don't I can't say I
know him all that well, butI know the folks. Uh their their

(05:39):
old man played in the NFL.Uh good good buddies teammates with Drew Bledsoe
with the New England Patriots. Hewas a really good lineman at Penn State.
Their mom was a college athlete,kind of an unofficial captain if you
will, of the player's parents.He organizes a lot of stuff for them.
So it was. It was coolon a lot of layers, the

(06:00):
least of which it was the gamewinning play. Well, and I'm kind
of a football I don't know whatyou want to say, Nerd maybe,
but what I was really impressed withtoo, kind of you know, going
back and watching the replays was I'mforgetting who it was, but the wide
out who had to be off theline so he didn't cover up Roucie there
as left tackle? Who was that? Yeah, sim Marie DK Yeah,
So yeah, it's something you repand they have, but you still in

(06:25):
the moment, they're like, whoYou're gonna do this now? Huh?
And even Nolan Rocchie was saying,I was I was surprised, So it
was it was a fun I meanit worked, so it was a really
really fun play. And for theseguys to score eighteen points in the fourth
quarter. Look, this game meanta lot to his content. Obviously,
it meant a lot to Illinois.I mean, now they're up against it.

(06:47):
Now they got work to do tobe Bowl eligible. You know they're
gonna have to get hot here downthe stretch. But but for the Badgers
to be able to do that witha backup quarterback who played like a savvy
vet in and Braidon Locke, itwas it was just a big time game
for those guys. Talking with thevoice of the Badger's Matt Leape and I
b a f fem his time withus brought to us by Middleton Ford.

(07:11):
And I'm glad you brought up BraidenLocked there, Matt, because I wanted
to touch on that. Aaron Henry, former Badger, he's now the DC
for Illinois. The different looks thathe threw at Brandon Locked this past Saturday,
and yet Brandon hung in there.It wasn't you know, pretty if
you won that first half. Buthe really got going in the second half,
which to us, I mean,those are encouraging signs to look for
us. We kind of moved throughoutthe rest of the year. Yeah,

(07:33):
his stats were deceiving. I thinkhe wan to show twenty one for forty
one. But there were some ketchupballs that weren't caught in that game too
until it mattered most obviously, WillPauling had a terrific catch for a touchdown.
Skyler Bell had great concentration on aon a terrific throw. It was
contested. They got the ball downto the Illinois five yard line on Wisconsin's

(07:55):
last possession and eventually led the touchdown. But I thought, you know,
you know, he did have aand over. But he's still by talking
about Braydon here, but he justhe has a you know, and talking
to him, I think I mentionedthis to you last week, and talking
to him just there's a presence abouthim that you have to remind yourself that
he's a red shirt freshman getting readyto make his first start, as he

(08:16):
did last week. So he youknow, he's a confident guy. He's
smart, he's confident without being cocky. Uh, he just he just has
a way about him, and Ithink that his teammates have talked about that.
Tanner Mordecai has talked about that.It's just he's a talented kid,
and you saw that talent at crunchtime, especially on Saturday. Yeah,

(08:37):
Badger's now five and two, threeand one in the conference and they now
lead the Big Ten West as Iowafell to Minnesota over the weekend, which
was shocking to me. But now, of course the Batcher's big time matchup
Saturday, Ohio State at the Camp. That game is gonna kick at six
thirty. Our coverage on IVFM withMike Heller and the Badger Radio network starts
at four thirty. So, Matt, I'm gonna raise it this way to

(09:01):
you. What do the Badgers needto do to contend with Ohio State Saturday.
Well, the first thing is yousomehow, some way, and it's
you know, good luck doing it, because it's hard. They have a
receiver, they have a lot oftalent, period, a receiver in Marvin
Harrison Junior, who may be thebest player in college football. I mean,

(09:22):
he's just and they have ramped upthe targets for him. Ohio State
has over the last three games He'sbeen targeted forty two times, including like
sixteen or seventeen times and Saturday's winagainst Penn State. He's just he's terrific.
He's six' four, moves well, just he has natural talent.
But obviously he's been very well coacheddown there as well, and like I

(09:45):
said, he may be as gifteda player as there is in all of
college football. So you want totry to as best you can limit his
opportunities. How do you do that? You try to make life difficult,
certainly on their quarterback Kyle McCord.You know, pass rush is not necessarily
a specialty for Wisconsin right now,but if they can find some ways to
at least disrupt him. You can'tsack him, you know, still try

(10:07):
to make him uncomfortable. So thatwould be you know, that would be
job one, and I mean inotherwise other ways. You want to be
able to carry over if you canwhat you did against Illinois, especially in
that fourth quarter or late in thefirst half, and give yourself a chance
offensively, get brailing going. IfBraylen, you know, can run it

(10:30):
the way he did on Saturday.And I'm not talking about just statistically,
but just with the with the physicalnature that he showed in that game,
and then that helps the quarterback,that helps everybody else. So the other
it's a cliche, Ben, butyou're gonna hear coaches say this throughout the
course of the week. Everybody knowsOhio State is good, but I think

(10:52):
sometimes you could play a team likethat and you could you could find yourself
down fourteen points before the opening kickoff, you know what I mean. I
mean you need to respect them,but you know, don't make them better
than they are. And I knowit's a cliche, but you're going to
hear it this week from Luke Thickleand probably others. I just think there
have been times here in these lastseveral meetings, not every time, but

(11:13):
there have been times maybe last yearwas one of them, Yeah, where
you just haven't given yourself a chanceand you're behind before the opening kick.
And as it turned out last year, Wisconsin guy behind two touchdowns not long
after the opening kick. So it'sa respect but you're just hoping you've got
the crowd, you've got under thelights, use every advantage you possibly can

(11:37):
to give yourself the best chance tohave a special night on Saturday. Yeah,
Ohio State. They've won the lastnine in this matchup with the Badgers
since they lost thirty one eighteen backin twenty ten. So Badger's Ohio State
Saturday. You can hear it hereon IBAFM again. Pregame coverage gets going
at four thirty kick off a setfor six thirty. Before I let you
go, Matt, I got toask you how good is Michigan. I

(11:58):
don't know if they truly played anopponent yet, so that would tell us
how good they really are. Butwhat are your kind of thoughts in Michigan.
Well, they could be as goodas anybody in the country right now,
and you could argue that they're thebest team in the country right now,
and they do it without a wholelot of flash. They just bludgeon
you. Uh they're they're defensively,they're they're terrific. Their quarterback is you

(12:20):
know, you could very well bea Heisman front runner too, and JJ
McCarthy. But they're they're a teamthat can They're just an incredibly physical team.
Uh there, they can beat youat the line of scrimmage. What
they do defensively, the way theygo about their business offensively, you know,
they have. You know some otherskill players that may not have flashy
stats, but they do what theyneed to do when they need to do

(12:41):
it, and they're just they're ateam that will steamroll you as opposed to
you know, some other teams thatmight beat you with a lot of pretty
ball. They don't, they don'treally do that. It's going to be
you know, they got to goto Penn State. I think Penn State
is really good. They have OhioState at home, so clearly it's it's
a backloaded schedule. But the factthat they've just gone about their business and

(13:05):
old Michigan State is a hot messright now, but that's still a rivalry
game and Michigan went in there andjust body slammed them. Yeah, that's
just how good they are right now. Yeah, I bring that up because
who knows, you know, maybewe see a matchup in India against Wisconsin
and Michigan. But a lot lefton this schedule as we now look at
to Ohio States, says we've beentalking about. So Matt, thank you

(13:28):
for your time. As always,my friend, have fun Saturday. That's
going to be a really fun environmentin Camp Randle. All right, Ben,
good talking to you. Take care. Yes again. You can catch
any part of our conversation with theVoice of the Badgers, Matt Lepe,
presented by Middleton Ford shortly on ourwebsite WYBAFM dot com and listen to Wisconsin,
Ohio, State or right here.Saturday coverage starts at four point thirty on IBAFM