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Talking the chase for 700 and 61, NCAA football and the NFL
89 Plays2 years ago
I talk a little baseball, NFL and NCC football and the Cardinals
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Transcript
Introduction to Gateway City Sports
00:00:06
Speaker
Pay attention, son. This is for your own good. This is Gateway City Sports. You've got to get it done! This is Talking Sports on the Bleachers with Don Glenn. A confident young man. A superb athlete. A look at the sports issues of the day. Holy cow! Grab a seat, pop a cold one, and let's talk some sports.
Current Sports Events Overview
00:00:34
Speaker
Gee, that sounds kind of interesting.
00:00:53
Speaker
Hello there, come on up and have a seat. We have guys chasing the home run records, teams clinching playoff first, NFL, NCAA and full strength, so throw down a deep cushion, pop the top, and we'll talk some sports.
00:01:19
Speaker
Gentlemen, start your engines! Here's the snap, Rommel looking, dumps it off right side, and her stomach! And her stomach is a goal line by Woodson! And there is your dagger! The rumors are true.
00:01:50
Speaker
You don't understand, I could have had class. I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody. Are you crying? Is there some crying? Is there some crying in baseball?
00:02:16
Speaker
Play-offs? Don't talk about it. Play-offs? You kidding me? Play-offs? For this young Cinderella, he's coming out of nowhere. He's got about 350 yards left. He's literally got about 500 yards left. Don't you think? He's got a vehicle that's... That's... Oh, he's got all of that one!
00:02:47
Speaker
I won't die, boy! I won't die, boy! Get out of here! You'll die, boy! Come here, bro! Nobody can beat me! Just tell them right back! Hey, Dad? You want to help me catch? I'd like that.
Gateway City Sports Offerings
00:03:19
Speaker
Hey fans, it's great to have you back and I'm glad you could make it to talking sports on the bleachers today. I am Don Glenn, your host and I'm here to tell you that talking sports on the bleachers is a proud part of Gateway City Sports. Gateway City Sports, you'll find articles, con and content on sports in and around the St. Louis bi-state area. We try to cover as much as we can from the Blues to the Missouri Tigers to the Illinois Fighting Line. If there's something we don't cover and you want and you follow it,
00:03:48
Speaker
Let us know. We'll take a look, see what we can do about that. Check out the other podcast, the team of rivals with Ron P and sometimes Elliot and the Derek King sports show. And there are more coming and some coming back. I want to take this time real quick here. If you listened to last, the last show when we had the A-Train Arlington Lane on, I failed to say where you can find the man at. And so you can find the A-Train at the A-Train show.
00:04:15
Speaker
and on YouTube and the ex-fan show or on YouTube at the ex-fan show. Excuse me. Okay, so some quick thoughts on baseball.
Baseball Milestones & Rule Critique
00:04:26
Speaker
We'll get started here. Albert Fuhrl's Citation 700 career home runs. He's too shy right now. I was at the stadium on the 16th when he hit that 690 and my God, was it a shot. I mean, I was trying to film it and I couldn't even catch the flight of the ball. It left his bat so quick.
00:04:45
Speaker
So just about two weeks left, I seriously think he will be the fourth member of the 700 Club before that's all said and done. Aaron Judge has now joined the 60 Home Run Club and he is one away from tying the American League record of 61 held by Roger Maris with a couple weeks left again. I think he's another one. He should do that and get the AL record. What that record will be 62, 63, 64, who knows?
00:05:13
Speaker
But I think you're going to see Aaron Judge be the American League single-season home run champion. Shohei Otani becomes the first Major League Baseball player in history to hit at least 30 home runs and 10 or more wins as a pitcher. He's also the first Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball history to hit 30 or more home runs in consecutive
00:05:36
Speaker
seasons. He hit 42 last year. Okay, new rules right now for baseball. I'm telling you, I am so over Rob Manfred. I can't wait till he's gone. He's an idiot and that's the nicest thing I can say about it. First of all, this
00:06:04
Speaker
restrictions on the ship is a total complete overreach and a joke. Major League Baseball's overuse of analytics has resulted in the elevated use of the extreme shift. I mean it's been around since Ted Williams for crying out loud. Give me a God bless it break. I mean I'm trying to be somewhat calm here about this but it's a joke. I mean
00:06:29
Speaker
Players just need to hit the ball the other way. Learn how to hit and use the entire baseball field, not get this pull happy. I can hit more power if I just hit to the left side or I just hit to the right side. And don't give me this BS that it's not easy to hit to all fields. If you are a major league baseball player and you are a fairly successful hitter, you can hit to all fields. It's not like I'm saying you gotta switch it.
00:06:57
Speaker
going from being a complete right hander to a left hand hitter to switching. That can be a difficult to do. But to hit the all fields, it's a matter of timing. It's a matter of adjustment. Give me a blessed break. These are professional baseball players. They should be able to hit the ball to all fields. And if they can't, that is on them. And that makes them nothing but lazy. And that's what I'm going to say about that. It's total crap that they can't hit the all fields. The next is a pitch clock. Okay, you want to pick
00:07:27
Speaker
with the pitch clock. But I think if you really want to speed the game up, get rid of about 50% of the TV commercials. Because you have a TV commercial, because all games are on TV now in one form or another, whether it's a local broadcast, like do a Bally Sports, or whether it's a national broadcast through ESPN, NBC, or something like that. But you have a pitch, you have a commercial,
00:07:55
Speaker
at every half inning, you have a commercial at every pitching change. I'm surprised they don't have a commercial at every pinch hitter. I mean, give me a break. You cut out half of the realistically one, and I'm serious, one commercial per inning. That's it. And forget this commercials during a pitching change. You would knock out a good 15 minutes of time because they don't start now until the game's back on TV.
00:08:24
Speaker
You know, back in the old days when I used to listen on radio all the time, you know, typically, typically you would have a number of games where you'd be listening to the game. They'd go to a commercial break at the end of the inning and they would come back and okay, while we were, while we were away, uh, so-and-so struck out on three pictures, they, you know, they, they would typically join the game of batter or two into the next inning. So what in the hell is the deal?
00:08:52
Speaker
You know, get your priorities straight for baseball. I mean, come on. You're already, and the other thing is you want to put this all onto your MLB network. Okay, great. Let fans see it. You want to make a big change. You want to improve the game. You want to improve the viewership. You want to improve the interest. Quit blacking out ball games on MLB TV. That will do more than anything else you can ever come up with.
00:09:16
Speaker
Uh, larger basis, again, another one, I don't have an issue with this piece per se, but if they were going to deal with it as a safety issue, which I had phase that they say is the biggest thing. I think the biggest thing cause you really don't have an issue with second or third base. I think the biggest thing that could have done or the easiest thing you could have done was do, and this is one rule from softball. I think I could take is put a runner's base on the foul side of first base.
00:09:44
Speaker
You see that in softball games. You have two bases at first base. You have one in the fair territory, which is first base, and one in foul territory, which is the runner's base. You avoid collisions, you avoid spiking, all that kind of stuff. So they can do that. Uh, goes for our own second. Get rid of this rule. It is stupid. It is idiotic. And it has no business in Major League Baseball. But I'm going to tell you this.
00:10:14
Speaker
I would love to see. I would love to see. If you've got that runner on second, your first batter is up and he can handle the bat. I would love that. And like I'm saying, say it was the Cardinals. You got to go start on second. And you got Tommy Edmond at the plate. Bunt the ball. Bunt the ball. Bunt the ball. You put the runner on third. At worst, this runner on third, one out.
00:10:43
Speaker
or you've got runner on first worst case scenario you've got a runner on first with one out or if they try to hold the runner at second then they delay the throw then you've got runners at first and second nobody out if they get the bunt down and they make the play at first base then you've got a runner at third with one out
00:11:12
Speaker
said, if I was a manager and I had a guy, a couple of guys that could punt the ball, and they're coming up in that situation, they're button. They're button. I'm sorry. They're button. I'm putting that runner on third with less than two outs. I've got a good chance. All I need at that point is a fly ball to win a ball game. I mean, give me a break. So get rid of the ghost runner. One final quick note. I want to add my condolences to the family and former card of former card of the pitcher, Mark Lattelle.
00:11:41
Speaker
who passed away recently. I know the team of rival guys and I listened to their podcast a couple days ago. Their kind of tribute to Mark, he was on their show a few times.
00:11:55
Speaker
He was a really great sound from the interviews and stuff. He was really a good, good, good person. Very good player, solid pitcher. He's going to be missed. And so my condolences to the family and friends and teammates of Mark Littel. Okay, let's shift to the NFL real quick. Now, how crazy is the NFL right now? I mean, Betray Lance era in San Francisco is going to be delayed another year.
00:12:25
Speaker
It kind of hit a hiccup. Two games into the season, you no longer have Trey Lance. He's out for the season with an ankle injury. This makes the non-trading and the re-signing of Jimmy Garoppolo huge in San Francisco. They were able to keep him around, not that they wanted to, but they did.
00:12:48
Speaker
And now it's going, I think it's going to be some big dividends. Um, he came in that first after the, uh, uh, injury to Lance in the Seattle game, he came in, kind of a performance 13 for 2154 yards in a touchdown. Well, what Garoppolo is going to give them is somebody that is filling in who they don't have to worry about how, if he knows the playbook.
00:13:15
Speaker
They don't have to worry about his composure and ability in big games. So I think this is a big, big, big win-win, so to speak, for San Francisco in that respect. Now where it hurts San Francisco is if that Garoppolo has a very good year and let's say they want to hedge their bets for next year again, in case Lance gets injured, they can't.
00:13:43
Speaker
because they can't franchise tag him. They can't franchise because his contract agreement says no trade, no tag. So at the end of the year, he's going to be a free agent. So if they want him back, they're going to have to pay through the nose. And I don't see that happening. But I think Jimmy's going to end up with a pretty decent payday somewhere. Now Lance was not the only quarterback to go down on. Dallas lost Dak Prescott.
00:14:12
Speaker
unclear how long he's going to be out. I haven't really seen any return dates or estimations on that. But they turned over the quarterback duties to Cooper Rush, who's actually been around Dallas for since 2017, on and off like the taxi squad. He's been the backup. He's played five games, a total of five games. He's thrown 30 to 47 for 4-23 touchdowns in a pick.
00:14:41
Speaker
Now, he did respond well, playing against Cincinnati, and they won the ballgame, 20-17. He was 19-31 for 235 yards in a touchdown. And like I said, current, not no one Prescott will return, but we'll see how Dallas responds with Cooper Rush. Maybe we have the Cooper Rush era. I kind of doubt it, but you just never, never know. Dane Jackson of Buffalo Bills, cornerback,
00:15:10
Speaker
Gary situation on Monday night, he was making a tackle and got hit in the back and bent his neck back by his own player. His neck really bent in an odd position.
00:15:26
Speaker
Uh, kind of on the ground for a while, got taken off the field by ambulance. Uh, good news is he was released from the hospital Tuesday morning. No immediate word on his status as to when he will return to the lineup though. Uh, a quarterback who's making people take notice right now in the NFL is Tuah Tagloviella. I hope I pronounced that right. I did TT y'all call it TT double T.
00:15:50
Speaker
Uh, the Miami Dolphins, he's in two games right now. He's 59 of 83 for 711 yards, seven touchdowns, and only two picks. Uh, the Dolphins are 2-0. They beat New England and Baltimore. Uh, now some of, uh, uh, double T's, uh, uh, success I think has come from the addition of Tyreek Hill, uh, to compliment Jaylen Waddell.
00:16:14
Speaker
And now Waddell was a big pass catcher for the Dolphins last year, 104 catchers, 1,015 yards and seven touchdowns. Up next for Miami is Buffalo. So we'll see how good he is. I mean, if you can take New England, Baltimore, and Buffalo, bang, bang, bang, you know, Miami just might have something going there. Kansas City is a, is also two and oh, blowing out Arizona and squeaking by the Chargers.
00:16:42
Speaker
mamahomes has been mohomes, 54, 74, 595, 7 touchdowns, and you know, that's just kind of penciled at him. The rushing game has been fairly solid with Clyde Edwards, Hellier, and Isaiah Pacheco and Jarek McKinnon. They've got collectively two hundred and eighty years, but only one rushing touchdown. Now although Hellier has caught seven balls as a receiver for seventy six yards and two touchdowns, and as expected with the
00:17:10
Speaker
Hill not there. Kelsey is the leading receiver for Kansas City with 13 catches, 170 yards and a touchdown. Now the defense has allowed over 20 points in two games and recorded five sacks and only one interception so I think if anything is going to have to pick up in Kansas City, it's going to have to pick up in the running games somewhat and with the defense. Allowing 20 points a game unless you can
00:17:37
Speaker
really pick up your offense and outscore. And if you're squeaked by the Chargers, you know, the Chargers are good, but I mean, you got to pick up the defense a little bit here and there. On another NFL note, as a Packer fan, I do feel compelled to report this.
Packers vs. Bears Game Recap
00:17:57
Speaker
And the most hated song for the Chicago Bears is, Who's Your Daddy? And they hate the name Aaron right now.
00:18:05
Speaker
Both Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Jones showed the Bears who were boss Sunday night. Rodgers was 19-25, 2-34, 2 touchdowns. Jones 15 carries 132 yards, a touchdown added 3 catches, 30 yards, and another touchdown. Rodgers due to 9 different receivers, Sammy Watkins led all receivers from the game with 3 catches and 93 yards in another complete domination of the Chicago Bears.
00:18:32
Speaker
uh... twenty twenty three modern error nominees the info hall of fame event now so i'm not going to roll it to sit on there uh... but uh... the list includes five quarterbacks uh... seventeen running backs nineteen wide receivers uh... three tight ends twenty five twenty one offensive lineman fourteen d lineman seventeen linebackers nineteen defensive backs ten pointers and two special team members as well as uh... uh...
00:19:04
Speaker
to pick up the 25 in November and that from that list 15 will be announced in January and the induction class will be announced the head of the Super Bowl. What is this, 57? Yeah, 57. In August, the NFL named defensive line Joe Cleco, cornerback Ken Riley, and linebacker Chuck Howley have been announced as senior finalist as well as former coach, like I said, Don Coriell.
00:19:34
Speaker
Um, uh, from last year, some guys that were on finals last year that are made the list again. Uh, Devin Hester, Tori Holt, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Willie Anderson, Jared Allen, Zach Thomas, Demarcus Ware, Patrick Willis, uh, were finalists last year. Uh, this year's inductees for the NFL Hall of Fame, uh, offensive tackle, Tony Bacelli, wide receiver, Cliff Branch, safety of the Roy Butler.
00:20:01
Speaker
linebacker Sam Mills, the lineman Richard Seymour and Brian Young and coach Dick Vermeerle and referee Art McNally. The thumbnails on the list that were not on last year's, that were not part of last year's finalist, you've got, let's see, you've got Mike Allstock,
00:20:24
Speaker
Um, you've got, and a couple of good Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb. Um, uh, you've got, uh, Donald Driver on the list this year. Uh, both, both the barbers, Tiki and Ronde. Uh, so pretty good class. And you know, uh, I'm gonna tell you, looking at that list, I'm not sure how they're going to whistle, whittle that down to 15. I mean, it could be stressful, but almost like buying a car, but that doesn't have to be stressful.
00:20:55
Speaker
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00:21:22
Speaker
Let's talk some NCAA football, okay? I love NCAA. This is a great time of year for me. I love the start of NCAA football season. It's just all the pageantry, and you get to watch the games, you get to see all the student sections. It's just fun. The most notable thing right now, though, is kind of a couple of bad notes to start off with, is Scott Frost being let go of Nebraska after losing to Georgia Southern in a 45 to 42 shootout. The move came as somewhat of a shocker,
00:21:52
Speaker
Many people did think Frost's days were numbered. I mean, he hasn't had a winning season in five years. Um, but many thought they would wait until after October 1st when they were only, when they would only owe him seven and a half million dollar buyout. Uh, but, uh, Nebraska AD Trev Alberts figured that 15 million was cheap and they were going to get rid of him. Uh, Mickey Joseph has been named interim head coach and he's the first black head coach at Nebraska.
00:22:22
Speaker
There are three names of its surface to possible replacements, and it's the leading to this, I should say, possible replacement. Lance Leopold, the Kansas head coach, and former Buffalo head coach at Buffalo University. The University of Buffalo head coach at the time. I mean, Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach. He's also a three-time Big 12 coach of the year.
00:22:43
Speaker
And Bill O'Brien, the Alabama offensive coordinator and former Penn State coach. Now, I don't think seriously any three of these guys will take that job. They've got really good gigs going where they're at. I've heard Caleb's name from Illinois mentioned. Yeah, I think Nebraska's aiming too high. I know they went a difference from Frost, who was described as disorganized.
00:23:10
Speaker
seemed to make impulsive and often irrational coaching decisions. One incident that was cited in a recent game, the one in Ireland against Northwestern, Frost failed to show up for the pregame staff meeting. How do you not show up for your own pregame staff meeting? That one buckles my mind. I have to tell you that one.
00:23:35
Speaker
Well, we'll see what happens over in Lincoln in the days and weeks to come. I don't know if they're going to make a decision this year. I kind of doubt it.
Nebraska Coaching Changes Discussion
00:23:42
Speaker
I think they'll wait until the end of the season before they really get busy on going, because they really can't interview any coach, any sitting coach right now anyway. And, you know, so if those three guys that are true, that they are at the top of their list,
00:23:59
Speaker
They're not going to talk to those guys till the end of the season anyhow, so we'll see. Now, on the last slide, I did kind of talk with A-Train, and we were talking about the same thing, and he kind of mentioned that, you know, since Bo Pelini, Nebraska really, and he stopped making that up, Pelini was 38 and 17 with four Big Ten divisional championships and was fired because he wasn't winning enough. Now, how do you win four Big Ten divisional championships? You've got
00:24:28
Speaker
a 600 winning percentage and you're getting fired? That one doesn't make sense. So I think Nebraska is just, they're aiming too high over a lot of things. And I think he was saying that himself. Mike Riley had a little bit of success, but he floundered. You know, so Frost has come in and just looked like, I don't know, I don't know how to explain what it is. I mean, he just looks like he doesn't have a clue on the sidelines.
00:24:59
Speaker
And you can kind of see that. So, but given the talent level, and they've got good talent in Nebraska, but they are definitely behind a lot of their big 10 counterparts. And I'm not talking the Wisconsin's and Michigan's. I'm talking like the Penn State's, the Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois. I mean, you know, their talent level is just not what you would think.
00:25:27
Speaker
Except Frost wasn't the only coach to get the pink slip. Edwards was fired this week from Arizona State. Edwards' gig at Tempe was in question before the season, much like Frost was. And I thought he would kind of last the whole season before they got rid of him. But three games in, he don't. They won their home opener, blasted northern Arizona, but
00:25:56
Speaker
lost the number of an Oklahoma State 3417. That wasn't, I wouldn't think that'd be a terrible law.
00:26:02
Speaker
But then they lost to Eastern Michigan 34 to 21. It's been a quagmire over there. A lot of talk that Herm Edwards' offensive scheming is just not conducive to college football. So goodbye, Herm. Some candidates reported being considered are Matt Rule, the head coach at Carolina Panthers. I don't see that happening.
00:26:30
Speaker
Byron Leftwich, Tampa Bay offensive coordinator, and Todd Monken, the Georgia offensive coordinator. I think both of those guys might take the Arizona State job. One name that popped up, and I'm not sure why, but Bryan Harsin, who's the Auburn head coach.
00:26:49
Speaker
Um, reports are there. He could be up to losing his game or his gig there. Um, he's had some issues in Auburn and they could be looking to move on from him. Um, I don't know if Arizona state wants the baggage with, uh, Brian Harson, I never know. Um, Mike Norvelo, Florida state, uh, people thought would be next in line for the Arizona state job, but he's got the Seminoles off the three and O starts. I don't see him.
00:27:18
Speaker
unless they just fold like a second half, I don't see him, uh, uh, wanting an Arizona, wanting to move from two Arizona state. Um, now some takeaways, um, after three weeks, uh, there's, uh, a number of undefeated teams. ACC's got seven big tens, got seven SEC has six. Um, there are four in the pack 12, uh, four in the big 12. So.
00:27:48
Speaker
Still got a lot of undefeated teams out there. And in terms of ranking, 16 of those teams are in the top 21 of the AP poll, including all top 12 teams in the AP. And the two major polls, the top seven are the same, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Clemson, Oklahoma, and USC. In that order, both polls had the same teams, seven through 10, but the AP has Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Arkansas,
00:28:16
Speaker
All the coaches have Kentucky and Oklahoma State reversed. So when the coaches pulled Oklahoma State, Kentucky and Arkansas.
00:28:26
Speaker
And I think it's to really put much emphasis on Paul. I really don't, at least this early in the season, because you really don't have much to go on because they're usually playing weak sisters. I mean, this year you've got some conference games going on. See a little bit you can tell from. But, you know, I think the top three teams that notably put themselves that they are ahead of the pack, and I'm talking Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State, they put themselves as the
00:28:54
Speaker
You know, they're going to be one. Everybody's going to be chasing, I think. Notre Dame, I got to talk about this for a little bit. Notre Dame was a preseason number five. Now they're sitting at one and two. Now, the Ohio State loss was not a bad loss because you're the number two team in the nation. But they determined and get beat by Marshall. And they didn't get beat. They got humiliated by Marshall. I just call it what it is. And it's got to have so many of the Fighting Irish fans
00:29:24
Speaker
really just in a tizzy. Now the win against California helped but they've got a slew of games coming up at North Carolina this Saturday and they catch a Bobby before playing number 19 BYU at BYU as a matter of fact and later at Syracuse a home date versus Clemson in November and at USC in the end of November.
00:29:48
Speaker
This could be a rough year for the Golden Domers. Just have to wait and see how they respond. Speaking of teams, what are they feeding those kids down in Georgia? That team is just flat out. I mean, I don't think they're going to be usurped from number one.
00:30:08
Speaker
Uh, and, uh, I don't, I'm not going to say they are guaranteed the NCAA championship, but you know, looking pretty damn good. I mean, they're three and all, they've outscored their opponents 130 to 10. They have allowed the least amount of points in three games, in the first three games in all division one football.
00:30:32
Speaker
Now, there are a couple things that are pretty good. Ole Miss and Iowa have only allowed 13 points. But, you know, to allow only 10 in three games, that's, yeah. Now, around the St. Louis area, Missouri is 2-1. But a blowout loss to K-State in week two has not sat well with many Tiger fans. I mean,
00:31:00
Speaker
It just didn't sit right with him. So far, quarterback Brady Cook has been, quite frankly, a disappointment in three games. I mean, if you look at it, he's averaging just a little over 200 yards with only one touchdown and one interception per, or averaging with one touchdown and one perception per game. Now, as for the Missouri running game, he's the leading rusher, 159 yards on 26 carries. Now he, they do have running backs, Cody Shader,
00:31:26
Speaker
And then Nathaniel Pete is combined from 258 yards and three touchdowns on 60 carries. Um, and receivers, Dominic Labat has 16 catches for 270 yards and two touchdowns. Now they have a highly tattered freshman, Luther Burden, the third. He leaves Missouri in scoring with three touchdowns, one rushing, one receiving and one on a punt return. He can do it all, I guess. Uh, so there's a bright spot there from Missouri.
00:31:51
Speaker
Um, and defensively they're allowing 27 points a game and giving up 117 yards underground and 212 yards passing. You're giving up 340 yards or 330 yards a game, um, and allowing 27 points. You're not going to win many ball games. I'm just going to tell you that right now, folks. Um, and they haven't even hit the hard part of the schedule yet. Uh, they've got this Saturday, they've got Auburn, uh, and then, uh, October 1st.
00:32:21
Speaker
So Auburn, they've got a chance there with that one. October 1st, Georgia. And then October 8th, at Florida. So these three games are going to tell the tale. Auburn is one they should be able to beat. I shouldn't say should, they could be able to beat Auburn. Georgia, the only thing about that is they get to play the game at home. But then again, you're probably going to get, I hate to say it, but I see a massacre on that game coming.
00:32:50
Speaker
October 8th, the Florida game. You're facing the Bulldogs and the Gators back to back. That's just tough. I don't care who you are. This can be a big mountain for me. So they can hit it can be in three and three, or they can be two and four before their bye week. Now after the bye week, it doesn't get any easier. Three of their six games are against number eight Kentucky, number 11 Tennessee on the road, and number 10 Arkansas.
00:33:18
Speaker
If you squeeze into South Carolina game in Mexico State, you know, it may be hard to see where six wins are going to come from Missouri, unless they can shape up the defense and get a little more consistency on offense, especially not having Brady Cook try to do it all.
00:33:37
Speaker
And I call him a disappointment. I'm saying disappointment mostly in the passing area of it. As a rusher quarterback, he's good. And I think that's his game, his combination. I think his running game is going to be better than his passing game. But you would expect a little better than just right around 200 yards for a passing game if you've got a dual threat quarterback like that.
00:34:05
Speaker
So we'll have to see, you know, if they get the win over Auburn, even losing to Georgia, Georgia, they can still hold their head up a little bit and say, okay, we've got some promise, we've got some hope. But if they lose to Auburn, and the next two games after that, and then they turn around and they got to face the second half of the schedule starts with Kentucky. And they could be circling the drain real quick over there in Columbia.
00:34:33
Speaker
Other team of note to St. Louis area fans would be the Fighting Alliance of Illinois. Now Mike, like Missouri, they are two and one. The lone loss coming to conference rival Indiana in a game, quite frankly, they should have won. They should be 3-0. But they were to avenge, they were able to avenge a butt whooping they took last year from Virginia.
00:34:54
Speaker
They took Virginia this year 24 to 3 in Champaign. But now if you look close to that game and you look at the game before that with Indiana, there's some glaring issues and that's turnovers. That's beating themselves. And quite frankly, that's what's been concerning. The defense took over where they left off last year. They've been very, very good.
00:35:19
Speaker
Offensively Syracuse transfer quarterback Tommy DeVito has been very efficient running the offensive for Illinois. 65 of 97, 622 yards, six touchdowns with two picks. Russian wise, it's been the Chase Brown show. And that's what we knew it was going to be when the season started, but it has been. 75 attempts, 496 yards and two touchdowns. He's got 150 yards in every game, at least 150 yards, I think, in every game he's played so far this year.
00:35:46
Speaker
Um, Josh McCray was supposed to be his back, uh, backfield mate, so to speak, but, uh, he suffered a leg injury in the first game and has yet to return and his status is still unknown at this time. Uh, as for receiving junior Isaiah Williams was going to be the focal point and has been of the passing attack with 19 catches for 157 yards on a touchdown. But he's had some backup, uh, softball Pat Bryant only has seven catches, but he's got 147 yards. So he's been kind of a deep threat.
00:36:15
Speaker
Uh, he's got a touchdown. He had got that Virginia game. Uh, they've also been using their tight ends, uh, very extensively. Um, they, so far tight ends for Illinois have caught 13 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns. And I said defensively, despite losing guys like Kirby Joseph, Isaiah Gay, Owen Carney Jr., who were just awesome on defense last year, they're only allowing 10.6 points per game. You know, opponents are finding it hard to run the ball, only getting about 85 yards a game.
00:36:45
Speaker
Now the secondary, despite having experience, they are missing Kirby Joseph. They're allowing 180 yards a game, mostly on deep plays, which is something that defensive coordinator Ryan Walters is going to have to look at and get fixed if they're going to have a shot at some of the bigger boys in the big 10 this year. Red zone defense is also kind of in question as the opponents are three and four in scoring in the red zone with one touchdown.
00:37:14
Speaker
You know, Illinois seems to be getting to breathe their resource tonight as they take on Chattanooga and Memorial Stadium, and then they get a week off before starting the conference schedule. Uh, at Wisconsin, they get, well, starting the conference schedule, but continue with their conference schedule since they've already played in Indiana, but at Wisconsin, uh, now then they get back to back home beats against Iowa and Minnesota. So, you know, kind of like Missouri's facing, Illinois has got a little bit of a gauntlet here.
00:37:41
Speaker
Yeah, they can get a win tonight and that'll make them three and one but then you really have the op the the the possibility of three losses I was very good. I guess they don't have they've only allowed 13 points all season. Wisconsin is damn good Minnesota Just depends who which Minnesota team shows up. I'm we could lose three games. We could win two games we could
00:38:06
Speaker
I don't think we can win three. I really, I don't think we're going to win it with Wisconsin. I think, uh, Iowa's going to be a test, a big, big test. And, uh, we, we probably should beat Minnesota. Um, then they get another bi-week and then they go to Nebraska, uh, before taking on Michigan state and Purdue at home on back to back weekends. And then they finished the year with con with road contest at Michigan or Western. So with this schedule, the line there, I think they're headed for a bowl game. I think I can see a bowl game in this picture.
00:38:36
Speaker
Uh, cause like I said, after tonight, I think when they only need three more wins and I can, you know, you got to figure Nebraska is going to be when you got a question is going to be when anything get Minnesota, you're bowl eligible. Um, then can you beat Purdue? Can you beat Iowa? Uh, I don't think you're going to beat Michigan and the big house. I don't think you're going to be Wisconsin at their place. So, you know, you, you've got two wins and then two more possible. Um, and after that,
00:39:04
Speaker
You know, so you could end up with eight wins, which I think would be put them in contention, not only put them into probably a New Year's Eve bowl game, but also put them in contention for the Big 10 West title. I don't think the winner, I think it's Wisconsin's title to lose in the Big 10 West, but we'll see. You know, just like the defense protects end zone in football, we need protection in life, because sometimes life throws up a trick play like a flea flicker, and that's when you need all state.
00:39:33
Speaker
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00:40:07
Speaker
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Cardinals Performance Analysis
00:40:23
Speaker
finish up with the St. Louis Cardinals here. Okay. Yeah, they're in a three game skid. We just lost two to San Diego after dropping the last game at home against Cincinnati. They've managed just one run in their last four games.
00:40:37
Speaker
Uh, like I said, they're finishing up the nights in, in San Diego before they go to LA. And then they've got a two game set Milwaukee before the final six games at Pittsburgh three at home. And then three, the final three, uh, in Pittsburgh magic number six. And the brewers are facing off right now to four game series against the red. So the cards need to get one or two.
00:40:56
Speaker
uh, before they get to Milwaukee, uh, really, um, uh, to make things, to make, to make, to kind of give them the assurance that they're going to, I think they're going to win it anyway, but you know, I think they do need to get a couple of wins here on the road before they get to Milwaukee. Uh, the team is in an offensive mud pit right now, for the most part, still getting you some good starting pitching though. Um, Montgomery, Michaelis, Wainwright, Quintana.
00:41:19
Speaker
Uh, I've all been turning it quality started for quality start for the most part, a couple of hiccups here and there. Uh, but since it came out, the IL Jack clarity hasn't particularly been sharp, giving up seven runs in his last few games, but he's, he's back. Um, he's, he's showing some promise. He's just not quite got his bearings yet, so to speak, uh, which questions why I think I would have had, I would have
00:41:45
Speaker
ran him out of the pen instead of right into the starting rotation. Dakota Hudson, meanwhile, coming back from the recent stint in Memphis, had a fantastic outing, his last outing on the 17th, going eight innings against Cincinnati, allowing only one run. And you can't talk pitching without bringing up Ryan Helsley. Helsley has become the stopper. I'm not meaning a stopper, I'm saying the stopper. He's
00:42:15
Speaker
has not been scored on, or has not lost a game since, or well, excuse me, the Cardinals have not lost a game that he's pitched in since July 9th. That's 22 straight games. He's 18 and 22 in save opportunities for the year, and had an immaculate inning versus Reds on the 16th. He's sporting a 1.19 ERA, a 0.73 whip. To go back, if you don't know what an immaculate inning is, it's striking out the side on nine pitches.
00:42:46
Speaker
He just, I mean, you just, it doesn't happen often. And he's getting some help. You look at Giovanni Gallegos, he struggled early part of the year, but in his last 16 games, he's only allowed four earned runs, three of those in one game, unfortunately. But he's picked up three saves, four holds. He's sporting a 309 year eight, but only a 0.96 whip. So you very, very good back end with those two.
00:43:13
Speaker
And then you had packing on and you had Stanton and Joe Doremaire who have all pitched very well. Woodford has been very good in middle and long relief. So the bullpen I'm not worried about, the rotation I'm not worried about, we got to get this offense going. So as I mentioned though, it hasn't been clicking and you know, Goldie and Aeronado have cooled off. DeYoung after a brief, and you know, we've all seen this kind of movie before the last few years, you know, resurgence ever coming back from an injury or coming back from whatever.
00:43:41
Speaker
He's slipped right back into being a sub 200 hitter, prize rookie Nolan Gorman after a fairly good start, slipped and since the All-Star break barely staying above them and knows the line at 207, they sent him down to Memphis and recalled Juan Yepes to try and see if they could give the offense a boost. By now on the flip side, we are having some guys doing some good.
00:44:04
Speaker
Tommy Edmond, who had a so-so first half, 259, 322, 377, 7 home runs, 33 RBIs. He's kind of picked up the patient in the second half. He's at 282, 325, 457 with 6 home runs, but only 23 RBIs. So he's not getting enough guys on in front of him, and that's been the biggest problem. Corey Dickerson since it's coming off the IEL has been one of those
00:44:28
Speaker
Ductive hitters since the All-Star break going 344, 351, 489 with two home runs, 15 RBIs. And this includes in August where he went 411, 411, 589 for a slash line. Another bright spot has been rookie second baseman utility guy Brendan Donovan. 280, 390, 370. He's not a big slugger. He's only got four home runs.
00:44:49
Speaker
but he's been an RBI steady with 40 runs driven in over the years so far. I think he's going to be a keeper for the road down here. Of course, as we said earlier and mentioned earlier, the big watch is Albert getting to 700. I said he, I think he'll get it. I think he hit 699 either in LA or Milwaukee and he'll hit 700 October 1st. That's my prediction. I will stick to it. All in all, I'm not worried about the recent slump. I really am not. I mean,
00:45:16
Speaker
They were bound to have a slump. I'm just happy it's happening now against Pittsburgh when you really go, oh, wow, we can't beat Pittsburgh. We're doing the playoffs. You're playing some good teams. They're kind of slumped a little bit. I think they can get it turned around in LA, maybe even tonight. They're facing Joe Musgrove tonight. He is 10-7, but he's only 2-0.
00:45:41
Speaker
10-2 and 7 versus the Cardinals for his career with a 5-53 ERA and 10 starts. So he's a right-hander and I haven't seen the lineup so I'm not sure if the Cardinals can see Albert or not tonight. But I do think the cards, but I think you'll see Albert and somewhere over the next, at least two or three games in the next five while they're on the road. All in all, I don't think the Cardinals, I think the Cardinals are going to win the division.
00:46:09
Speaker
Um, and right now it looks like they would get silly in the first round. Um, and all three games would be in St. Louis. So I like our chances after that, you know, for that. And after that, it could be a crapshoot. Uh, I think, but either way, this team is, if they're playing right and they're getting the timely hitting and they're getting, and the pitching stays the way it is, uh, I look for a chance, a really good chance at a deep run in the playoffs this year. So, Hey, that's about all the time I've got tonight.
00:46:38
Speaker
A little bit shorter show than normal, but that's the way it goes sometimes.
Show Conclusion & Podcast Info
00:46:44
Speaker
So don't forget to check out Gateway City Sports at GatewayCitySports.com. Check out the show's website, Talking Sports on, or excuse me, I'll try that one more time. Check out the show's website, Talking Sports hyphen, O-T-B hyphen, G-C-S dot on podium dot com.
00:47:06
Speaker
Hit the show up on Twitter at T-S-O-T-B-G-C-S. And you can find us on Spotify, Apple Music, Apple Pods, anywhere you get your podcasts. So until next time, stay safe, have fun, and we'll see you again when we can talk sports on the bleachers.
00:47:53
Speaker
Thanks again for joining us and you have been listening to Talking Sports on the Bleachers. Here's hoping you have a great sports day.
00:48:20
Speaker
you