Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Bears comeback win, night in MLB Playoffs with the crazy double play, Eliot Clough talks Hawkeyes & Packers with Dave Sinykin

Transcript

Bears comeback win, night in MLB Playoffs with the crazy double play, Eliot Clough talks Hawkeyes & Packers with Dave Sinykin · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:07
All right, welcome Millery Condon on a Tuesdays.
0:10
The Iowa Sports Radio Network cranks back up for the next 6
0:14
hours. Iowa based programming, Trent
0:16
Condon, myself, Ken Miller. We will start things, take
0:18
things until 2:00 at that time off the bench with Lucas and
0:23
Sean. Here's what's coming up on our
0:25
program. We'll catch up with Elliott Clef
0:28
from 24/7 Sports. Having a busy day, the Iowa
0:30
media busy women's college basketball media day today,
0:36
football media day today, Kirk Ference, 145 S Elliot Cliff.
0:40
In between all of those tasks, he will join us and share what
0:44
he has heard in about 25 minutes.
0:47
Then we're going to catch up with our old buddy Dave Sinican
0:49
from zonecoverage.com. He covers the Green Bay Packers.
0:53
Haven't talked about the Packers for the last couple of weeks for
0:56
one reason or another, usually scheduling.
0:58
So we'll do that here today with the Packers.
1:00
Spent a few minutes on one of our regional teams, our number 2
1:04
baseball, with our buddy Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com as we'll
1:08
recap where we're at in both championship series and look at
1:10
the look back at some of the teams that were eliminated over
1:13
the weekend. You hit the nail on the head
1:15
yesterday with about one minute left in the show, everyone
1:18
talked about that classic from Friday night, what a game
1:21
Seattle and Detroit. So we'll kind of put a, oh, a
1:25
bow on some of the teams that got knocked out, including the
1:27
Cubs and then Bill Bender on college football.
1:31
We're at the point now where you're starting to look ahead at
1:33
schedules. And if a team X is 10 and 2,
1:35
does that mean they have a chance or who are their wins?
1:38
Who have they got ahead? So we'll get into a Bill Bender
1:41
coming up here at 1:30. Trent's plays the day before.
1:43
We get out of here at 2. They are sponsored by our
1:46
friends at Circa Sports. You can download the Circa
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Sports app now. I finished doing that over the
1:51
weekend, finished doing it was like took like 5 minutes, but I
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got it done. What a difference.
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It's beautiful, isn't it really and truly is.
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And, and we've said it, you know from the time we formed this
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partnership that the app needs a fresh coat of paint and they
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promised and they got it done and it looks really slick.
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It really does. If you're a if you're a customer
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is one of the other properties, download it.
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You'll be glad that you did anywhere in the state of Iowa or
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if you're listening across the pond in Illinois, likewise.
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But I think it's really slick and it's easy to do and for old
2:22
people that struggle with technology, if this guy can do
2:24
it, you can do it. Anyways, let's get into what we
2:27
saw last night in sports. Save the baseball, do one spend
2:32
some time on the in the ground out the double, which is
2:35
remarkable. But I want to talk about your
2:37
Bears first and foremost because all of a sudden now they that
2:40
that was a nice win. Identical score to last year,
2:43
which is crazy, right? 2524, they accept the other team
2:46
won the Bears last night. And Jake Moody, who wasn't good
2:50
enough to kick for San Francisco, he did have one block
2:53
and it looked it was low, low, I mean really low.
2:57
But when it mattered most as the game is ticking the final couple
3:01
of seconds, it split the sticks and the Bears win and the
3:03
Commanders lose. And what did you think?
3:07
At times I was apoplectic for a myriad of different reasons.
3:10
Starting the booty kick was awful late in the game it felt
3:16
like they were just settling for a 50 yard game.
3:19
Winner seems. Like it didn't what?
3:20
Are you in the rain? Get some yards.
3:23
The guy just got cut right? Because he had the yips, maybe.
3:26
Do something. Moody was a third round pick.
3:29
Yes, that's crazy. But went over the right side,
3:33
got what, 15 yards on that play? 17, yeah.
3:36
Whatever it was and that proved to be, I think the difference as
3:39
I, as the Bears got it done, you know, throughout the course of
3:42
the game, you see this Bears team and there is talent there.
3:46
This is a talented team, but they're still so sloppy.
3:50
They're still just not a smart football team lining up
3:57
infractions. Take a touchdown off the.
3:59
Board screwed on that. I mean that they got screwed.
4:01
It just, but it's still part of their DNA that this is a dumb
4:06
football team. They're sloppy, they're dumb.
4:09
Now, Montez what maybe had his best game in a bear, you know,
4:12
but for one play he was tremendous and the tip ball late
4:17
in the game and just on and on and on.
4:18
He was everywhere and it was as high of a motor as I've seen out
4:23
of him now. Maybe it was also where he was,
4:25
and maybe that was a part of. It by going back.
4:27
Yeah, he was outstanding and that's where I go back to his
4:30
team's talented and you can see Ben Johnson, what he's trying to
4:33
do and instill this culture, a culture of winning and getting
4:36
through pre snap penalties and the rest.
4:39
And finally the interior, the offensive line look good.
4:42
Yeah, they did something that hasn't been the key.
4:44
Darnell Wright was outstanding at tackle, something that they
4:47
haven't had. It feels like it's clicking
4:49
because you also then look big picture and the schedule is not
4:53
very daunting here in the foreseeable.
4:55
Future. Well, I'm glad you mentioned
4:56
that, Trent. Let's let's pull it up because
4:58
you hit the nail on the proverbial head.
5:00
Here's what they've got. New Orleans at home at
5:04
Baltimore. I think Lamar will be back, but
5:06
he can't play defense at Cincinnati.
5:08
No, Joe Burrow home to the Giants and then it gets a little
5:13
deeper from the water here with three of the four games on the
5:15
road. But none of these are
5:17
impossible. No, you usually split with
5:19
Minnesota, so. And they already got there once,
5:21
so they got there to return the favour.
5:23
Pittsburgh is leaving their division.
5:25
They're not paying. I don't think so.
5:27
I know you don't like Philadelphia on Black Friday,
5:30
and that's going to be a lot of folks are saving that game for
5:33
survival. I was, and I'm not so sure you
5:35
want to do that anymore for two reasons.
5:37
A Philadelphia does not look like a, you know, a world
5:40
beater. And the Bears are their arrows
5:42
pointing up. I've know I've said that to you
5:43
before, Green Bay, but they do have Cleveland left.
5:47
So yeah, did this is a team that might mess around and be on the
5:52
cusp of that Detroit game, maybe going for win #10 yeah.
5:57
Is that crazy? I don't think that's crazy.
5:58
At San Francisco in the penultimate week of the regular
6:02
season, Who's going to be left for San Fran?
6:04
Now you can't stub your toll this week against.
6:05
The no, you absolutely can't. And you keep telling me because
6:08
I don't watch, I don't think I've watched the Saints play
6:10
once that this team is better than they than their record kind
6:13
of say that they're in close games.
6:16
What if I told you right now that Spencer Rattler is
6:19
completing nearly 70% of his passes?
6:21
6 touchdowns against one interception seems impossible,
6:24
right? I'd say those is college stats.
6:26
Right, they are not. Those are his stats in the NFL.
6:28
On top of it, he's run for 143 yards.
6:31
He's building around. He's making plays.
6:33
Olave is still there. They still got Shaheed as fast
6:36
as anybody, maybe in the NFL. He is, of course, what they do
6:39
in the running game still with Camaro there.
6:41
They're not great. I'm not trying to sell a bill of
6:43
goods, but this team is at least OK, better than one and five.
6:47
They will push some good teams this year and hell, they'll
6:49
probably finish five and 12 or 4 and 13.
6:52
But there are still pieces and they're going to pull an upset
6:54
against somebody at some point that's going to.
6:57
Don't let it happen this weekend.
6:58
Absolutely short week. Feels too easy.
7:02
It does. What are the games that have a
7:03
lot of? Folks, I was going to just about
7:04
to say there'll be a lot of folks using the Bears and
7:06
survivors. So would you sign in their next
7:09
4 before they go to go to mini Minneapolis?
7:11
Their next 4 New Orleans, Baltimore, Cincy Giants 3 and 1
7:15
is that. I, I signed for that right now,
7:17
no doubt three and one at minimum win this game, split on
7:21
the road, come home and beat the Giants.
7:23
Who the Giants are better they are.
7:25
The Giants have a pulse. The Giants are starting to
7:27
return to relevance, I think. They've and they got that goofy
7:30
duo. They're both weird ducks and
7:33
Jackson Dart and Scataboo, who we know is a weird, weird man.
7:37
Yeah, he is. And he put those two together
7:39
Now when it's going well in New York, we know that it can be
7:41
fun. They will own New York.
7:42
Now when it goes the other way, you don't want that thing can
7:45
collapse very very quickly. There's a whole bunch of
7:47
carnage. I mean, Sam Darnold was seeing
7:49
ghosts. Seeing ghosts.
7:52
It doesn't look like you've seen ghosts anyways.
7:54
But it's not Week 17 of the first round of the playoffs, So
7:56
what? Maybe the ghosts will reappear
7:58
there, if Seattle gets that far. The.
8:00
Bears have a pulse. I think that's the at minimum,
8:04
the way that you can explain this team, that there is an
8:06
opportunity and there's enough talent for them to hang around
8:10
and be a playoff team. But it's still the Bears DNA and
8:12
you still see that show up from time to time.
8:15
And boy, is it frustrating. No, I get it.
8:17
But a good win last night pulled it out somehow of all people,
8:21
Jake Moody are at the early game.
8:23
Where do you go with the Buffalo Bills?
8:25
I know you've been concerned. In fact, you had Atlanta.
8:27
You loved Atlanta going back to to last week.
8:30
You were proven to be right and that one Bills kind of put it
8:32
together a little bit. But I think you're 100% right,
8:35
Trent. It's it's the defense that may
8:37
indeed be the downfall of the Bills.
8:39
Once again, they. Gave up 443 yards to the Falcons
8:43
and I mean an inch away from the touchdown to end the first half.
8:46
You coupled that with defense, couldn't get off the field and
8:50
Josh Allen didn't have it last night.
8:51
He wasn't great, wasn't great. No, threw a couple of
8:54
interceptions, including the tip ball late.
8:56
He just he wasn't Superman. And when he's not Superman, this
9:00
team's not very good. And I think you saw that again
9:03
there. This defense, even as they get
9:05
healthier, I don't think it's going to be even good.
9:08
Maybe they can get the average. That's probably the high
9:10
watermark for this group. And that's a team that you trust
9:13
in January against the Kansas City Chiefs.
9:15
Who Who do you believe is the best team in the are the best
9:18
team in the AFC? It's either them or the Colts.
9:20
Isn't that crazy to put the Colts in that sentence?
9:23
And I don't disagree with what you just said.
9:25
I mean, who else would it be? There's nobody else.
9:27
It's not the Chargers. No, I want to say the Broncos,
9:30
but it's not to this point. It's not the Steelers.
9:33
No, I know the record is is shot.
9:35
The Patriots arrow is pointing up, but not that far up.
9:38
First place in the AFC East as they have the tiebreaker.
9:41
Over. That's true.
9:42
I never thought about that. Over Buffalo.
9:44
Here is your playoffs if the season started today.
9:47
Oh. This should be good.
9:48
Here we go. Your number one seed in the AFC
9:50
is those Indianapolis Colts at 5:00 and 1:00.
9:52
So they're sitting at home. The number two seed, the
9:55
Pittsburgh Steelers, will play host to the Denver Broncos.
9:58
Good, perfect, works out. Well, take the Broncos.
10:00
Hell yeah, they've got Bo Nicks. The Chargers would be playing
10:06
host to the Jaguars. That's a good game.
10:08
We've seen that game before. And the Patriots would host the
10:11
Bills. That's wild.
10:12
The Kansas City Chiefs, arguably the best team, they're not in,
10:15
not the outside looking in in the NFC.
10:18
The Buccaneers are at home for the opening round.
10:21
They get think by. Because they're banged up, yes.
10:23
They they would need it. The Packers would be your number
10:26
two seed playing host to the Rams.
10:29
The 49ers are the three seed hosting the Seahawks.
10:33
Give me Seattle. That's a good one and.
10:35
The Eagles would host the Lions. Give me the Lions.
10:37
Oh my, I might take all three Rd. games in that scenario.
10:40
Rd. teams in that scenario. That's not that's not crazy.
10:43
That's not crazy good. News is, we got a long way to
10:46
God. What we are about to embark in
10:47
week #7 let's embark on baseball and what we have to start with
10:51
the play. I was not watching it live.
10:55
I did not see it live. But very quickly my phone
10:57
started to go crazy. What am I missing?
10:59
Why is the runner out at third? What are you talking about?
11:02
And then I saw it. And then when you read the
11:05
actual box score, the play by play that Max Muncie grounded
11:09
into a double play. Eight to six to two, hang on a
11:13
second. Eight to six to two.
11:15
Really, the ball never hit the ground until it hit the ground.
11:20
So if you missed it, I don't think anybody at this point has
11:23
missed it. I've never seen it.
11:24
I don't think anybody has ever seen this play before.
11:27
Have you? I can't remember and so I had it
11:31
on. I sent you a picture last night.
11:32
The kids are actually hanging out with.
11:33
Me very jealous. Down at the band cave, hanging
11:35
out of the We pop some popcorn for the Bears game and we're
11:38
sitting down there and had the baseball on one of the TV's, so
11:40
I did. And I texted you back, remember
11:42
each and every single minute of it because it goes way too fast.
11:45
Absolutely. And it was a fun night.
11:47
And so my daughter is more and more playing softball and
11:51
starting to understand the game and and that was one she's
11:53
asking me what what's going on? I said I have no idea.
11:57
I. Was hoping you could tell me.
11:59
I have no idea because after it hits the glove.
12:03
Freelix Glove. Then it hits the wall.
12:06
And it is. It just, it's so funny.
12:11
It's. So crazy, but it didn't leave
12:13
the ballpark and come back. You don't know until you see the
12:16
angle. I'll say this very quickly.
12:19
Who Ron Darling and who is in the booth?
12:22
I mean, it's Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and I should know his
12:26
name 'cause he's good. The two former players seem to
12:29
realize that that ball's in play as soon as it doesn't, as soon
12:32
as it pops out of his glove, which it did.
12:34
But how's Tioska Hernandez going to know this if the third base
12:38
coach doesn't know it? I mean, he's standing 2 feet
12:41
away from me to help you and he couldn't tell.
12:46
I guess it's on Tioska for not running back, tagging up and
12:49
going because you're going to anyways at that.
12:51
Point that would be the knock, right?
12:53
Though he went back a second time, he should have just been
12:56
staying on 3rd the whole time, right?
12:58
And as soon as that ball hit the glove, that's when he tags,
13:01
that's when he go and he's not that out.
13:04
He's easily gets in. And Will Smith was on second
13:07
base, He didn't run. He didn't run.
13:11
And William Contreras, to his credit, and I don't know, maybe
13:13
somebody was screaming at him. He caught the ball made, got the
13:16
force at home as he beat the throw.
13:18
He beat her. Hernandez to the plate, There's
13:21
the force out and he runs back down to third base.
13:24
Double play, inning over. But for Max Monday, Muncie to
13:27
hit the ball that far and within inches of a Grand Slam and to be
13:33
goal, goal in the box scores grounded into a double play,
13:35
Eight to six to two. I mean, come on.
13:38
It's one of the more befuddling plays.
13:40
It'll be remembered for a long time.
13:42
Will. Be And you know what?
13:43
Blake Snell pitched pretty good game last night.
13:45
What do you remember about the game?
13:46
Yes. Not Blake Snell.
13:47
Not his 10 strikeouts. It went over that 6 1/2 I handed
13:50
out yesterday at the end of the show.
13:52
That wasn't even close. That was my God dominating
13:54
performance. Good.
13:55
Late in the game, the decision to bring in like trying it.
14:01
Yeah, ballsy, gutsy, because he's been brutal.
14:05
And got a call, helped out, then elevated that fastball for the
14:09
strikeout to end it. But almost hit a guy with bases
14:12
loaded to tie the game. And that's what you got to wear
14:15
it right? You got to wear it while you
14:17
dive it out of the way. I.
14:18
Totally agree with you, but that was the tying run.
14:20
But you can't knock a. Guy, I mean, it's just, it's
14:22
instinct. Yeah, yeah.
14:23
It's an 8. You're.
14:25
You're just so used to doing that, but.
14:27
But I bet you it at at 8 to up all night, if I just would have
14:30
stood there, the game would have been tied.
14:32
What do we? All the momentum is on the
14:34
Brewers side. The Dodgers bullpen isn't good.
14:37
I still think Sasaki is good. Well, and last night, and that's
14:41
where I kind of wanted to go with you pulling him in that
14:43
spot. I wouldn't have.
14:45
I don't think I would have either, certainly not for Blake
14:48
trying to. I know.
14:49
Revisionist history is, of course.
14:50
Yeah, you struck about still, I would have stuck with him there.
14:55
I think big picture, even if you do lose that game, to win the
14:59
World Series, they're going to need them because this Seattle
15:01
team is playing well. Oh my God.
15:03
And to win a World Series, I still think that you need Sasaki
15:08
to be the guy at the back end there.
15:10
I don't know. I, I, I didn't like the
15:12
decision, but it's Dave Robertson.
15:14
Boy have we second guessed the manager outside of our, you
15:17
know, area more than that guy. World Series winning manager.
15:21
Oh, by the way. Dave Roberts, he gets a lot and
15:25
they're that was another. One he won last night.
15:27
Yep, I mean he got the last laugh last night as they go up 1
15:30
nothing. I think this series is far from
15:32
over. I think it's going to be great.
15:33
You mentioned Seattle and the Blue Jays.
15:36
You know, I, I I'm a Blue Jays fan.
15:38
If you don't if you don't not wear this, this is my squad.
15:44
Did the Yankees beat him yesterday?
15:48
Did was was that their be Orlando Yankees lose Remember
15:53
Vladi after the game happened she yucked it up with with big
15:56
poppy. They wanted to beat the look at
15:59
and if if I say that I'm not giving the credit that the
16:03
Mariners deserve because this is a wagon.
16:06
These guys are really really good.
16:07
Rosa Reyna he was walking back to the dugout strike three.
16:10
As John Small says everybody in the ballpark knew except don't
16:13
play it. Umpire at first bat first batter
16:15
of the game, one and two right down the middle ball.
16:18
He was walking back to the dugout.
16:20
What happens it's the batter and away we go.
16:22
You Savage gives up three in the first inning and and there was a
16:25
bad calls for Seattle later on as well and it helped the Blue
16:28
Jays. But Seattle's really good Trent.
16:31
They're really, really good. I will not fall off my chair if
16:35
the World Series if there's a parade in Seattle.
16:37
I really wouldn't. They can beat the Dodgers.
16:39
I think they can. Or the Brewers.
16:41
They just seem like, you know, most years, not necessarily
16:46
every sport, there's that team, that team that just looks like
16:50
it's their year. It kind of looks like it's
16:53
Seattle year. And for a team that's been
16:55
around since the 70s, a team that has never, never got to the
16:58
pinnacle. No close.
17:00
Rarely even gets to the ALCS. This is, what, just the third
17:04
time in franchise history? Second time it Yeah, it doesn't
17:08
happen very often. There's something different
17:10
there and I can't wait to see that crowd.
17:12
Tomorrow. Oh my God.
17:14
I mean, they're going to be. Those crowds have been
17:15
incredible. We go back.
17:16
First time we're going to see a Blue Jays Mariners game that
17:20
half the building? No, probably not Half. 40% of
17:23
the building won't be Blue Jays fans.
17:25
Right. Because that is as I mean,
17:28
Western Canada. They show up in Seattle for
17:30
their their Blue Jays. But not tomorrow, it'll be
17:32
Seattle. Look, the Jays can't win 4 the
17:35
next 5. I just don't see it.
17:37
The next three are in Seattle. Bieber 232, Yeah.
17:40
It's 232, Bieber goes. Against Kirby.
17:44
Against Kirby and Kirby was really good last out.
17:47
I like Kirby in that spot. I do too.
17:49
Be better. Bieber has not been great other
17:50
than he was good when he first came back.
17:52
He's not been great as of late. That's a problem.
17:55
It's a problem. It's a problem.
17:58
I I just think we're headed for Seattle.
18:00
Seattle Dodgers. Seattle Brewers.
18:02
No, the Brewers aren't going to beat the Dodgers.
18:05
I know you want them to. It's not going to happen.
18:08
Guys, this Brewers team, there's just something about and they
18:10
keep fighting. Well, they have two hits last
18:12
night. They had two hits, but yeah,
18:14
that's all they had was two hits.
18:16
You're right. But man, but there they are,
18:18
runners on 2nd and 3rd, 2 outs in the 9th inning.
18:21
And if it would have, should have, I mean, they could have
18:23
stolen that one last night after on A10 strikeout performance by
18:27
the Dodgers starter. My good.
18:29
He he was unbelievable. So what have we got tonight?
18:32
We have game 27-O8. You know, we got some college
18:36
football. Nova, we got Yamamoto versus
18:39
Fred Pearl. Yeah, right, right.
18:40
It's gotta be. Yep, That's pretty good.
18:43
And she Dodgers. You think so?
18:45
Yeah. So when's Otani pitching?
18:49
Do we know that yet? Game 3 is he?
18:52
I think so. Don't know.
18:54
So think so. Yeah, that'd be normal.
18:56
Rest for Otani. If they named the starter for
19:00
game three, which would be no, nothing yet on on ESPN.com.
19:04
All right, we'll take a time out.
19:06
I was sitting next. Elliot Kleffel, join us, Dave
19:09
Siddik in this hour. For you Packer fans, we've short
19:11
changed in the last couple of weeks.
19:13
We'll do the Packers coming up here and our number 2, Matt's 9
19:17
or more Major League Baseball conversation before we go to
19:20
break. Let's give somebody an
19:21
opportunity to win $1000. Head to kxando.com.
19:26
The keyword this hour is Grand, Grand, KX and o.com.
19:29
Your chance to win $1000 grand@kxando.com is 1220 Miller
19:34
and Condon underway on a Tuesday.
19:36
Glad you're with us on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
19:45
I'm Mallory Congon, Welcome back, Iowa Sports Radio Network
19:50
and Des Moines Sports Station 106.3 KXNO.
19:53
Off to Iowa City we go. Elliot Cleft's had a busy day
19:57
talking football with some of the players who met with the
19:59
media earlier. Kirk Ference coming up in an
20:02
hour and 15 minutes. Elliot Trenton, Ken, as always,
20:05
we appreciate what you do for us.
20:07
Thank you very much for that. I guess where I want to start
20:10
is, is it's hard to avoid the quarterback position, right when
20:14
it comes to when it comes to any football program.
20:17
Mark Gronowski was OK, didn't wow you, but it was good to see
20:21
him out on the field. Still wonder if he's going to be
20:24
able to to scramble if necessary.
20:26
So I'm doing a couple of times, but far be it anywhere close
20:29
seemingly to 100%. And then here comes a Klitsky
20:33
off the bench. Not Brown, it was a Klitsky.
20:36
Am I saying hecklinsky? There we go.
20:38
That came in in relief. So let let's start there with
20:41
the quarterbacks. Any conversation around the
20:44
quarterback position today? Yeah, so we got to talk to Mark.
20:49
Nothing super groundbreaking so much as him telling us that
20:53
he's, you know, still working to get back healthy.
20:55
But he said he feels good today. And you know, like I said,
20:59
nothing groundbreaking, but talked a little bit about his
21:02
play against Wisconsin. You know, like you said, we we
21:05
could tell everybody could tell that he wasn't 100%.
21:08
But like he said, he's he's still working to get back.
21:11
Talk a little bit about that interception he threw trying to
21:15
think the the run game being being as good as, as it was.
21:19
And, and so he's, he's, you know, I, I agree with you.
21:22
He's not 100%. We could all tell that he didn't
21:24
necessarily give us the percent as to what he's at, but clearly
21:28
still still working on rehab in that knee.
21:30
Speaking of that rehab, there were a few times, and maybe my
21:33
biggest take away was he'd be rolling and just kind of stumble
21:37
nobody around him. That happened three different
21:39
times during the course of the game.
21:41
Do we know, has he said is this something that is they
21:44
anticipate going to get better throughout the course of the
21:46
year or is this kind of who he is and this is going to be the
21:49
kind of quarterback and mobility wise who he's going to be the
21:51
rest of the year? Yeah, that's a great question,
21:55
Trent. I would, I would.
21:57
We haven't heard him say that specifically.
22:00
But really in between the lines, I more or less think that's
22:03
what's going to happen the rest of the year because you can only
22:05
do so much to fully heal up when you're getting hit by 300 LB
22:09
defensive lineman. And it is a presumably sort of a
22:13
structural thing going on in his name.
22:14
We haven't been given full details, haven't heard quite
22:17
what it is behind the scenes, but obviously not in ACL because
22:20
if it was a full on ACL there, we'd be having a different
22:22
conversation right now. But but based on what we know,
22:26
I, I would imagine we're gonna see and you know, and it might,
22:28
it might progressively get better.
22:30
But what I can tell you right now that I know is that 2 weeks
22:33
was in that bye week came at a perfect time.
22:36
Mm hmm. And for him to to be able to
22:38
heal up at least as much as he could over that, that time frame
22:41
and and to get back, if, you know, again, reading between the
22:44
lines to me, I, I think this is a situation where he's going to
22:47
be a little Hanford for the rest of the season.
22:49
Is is he going to, you know, take off and run between the
22:53
tackles like we've seen? Maybe, but but not not right
22:56
now. I'll tell you that, that's for
22:57
sure. Penn State obviously comes to
22:59
town, will do so without James Franklin.
23:01
I'm sure there's a better coach for a better question for
23:04
Ference to answer. But I'm I'm guessing that, you
23:07
know, so some of the players were asked about Penn State and
23:09
the fact that it's Franklin's not going to be there.
23:12
What what was what was their response?
23:13
If that was brought up? Is it, you know, they're just
23:17
going to do it doesn't matter who's on the other side of the
23:19
field or coaching. Kind of what was the response to
23:21
the Penn State new coach question, if it came up at all?
23:25
Yeah, Yeah, you nailed it, Ken. Pretty, pretty, pretty easy to
23:28
surmise. What they were going to say is
23:30
that it's just the same as what it what it was going to be.
23:33
Maybe even an added level of intensity When I mean, we saw
23:36
this I think 3 years ago when Scott Ross got fired at
23:40
Nebraska. Nebraska came to Iowa City and
23:44
and beat Iowa when Iowa had a chance to get to the Big 10
23:46
championship game. So that's that's I, you know,
23:50
that has to be in the back of Kurt Variance's mind when it
23:52
comes to the players. They're just like, yeah, I mean,
23:54
we're playing the same team, right?
23:56
Like this, this team, obviously without Drew Aller, that makes
23:58
things a little different, but this team was a top five team in
24:02
the country to start the season for a reason.
24:04
They brought everybody back. You're talking for a few
24:06
reasons. You're talking NIL, you're
24:08
talking national championship and obviously the NIL is still a
24:11
factor, but national championship is out the window
24:14
at this point. How motivated are they going to
24:17
be? That's that's the big question
24:18
for folks like you and me. For Iowa, it's and the guys,
24:22
what they said is, you know, it's still a talented team.
24:25
It's still a team with something to play for and they got to
24:29
prepare like it. Like they get they do have a
24:31
backup quarterback coming in, but he is a former 4 star that
24:35
has some talent clearly, but has played just a small amount of
24:38
football. So it's it's going to be
24:41
interesting. Obviously they still have the
24:42
same coordinators around too. So things shouldn't change too
24:45
drastically. But you know, we we saw how I
24:49
were prepared going into this game against Wisconsin, a team
24:52
that was pretty down in the dumps.
24:53
And now they're further down in the dumps because Iowa went in
24:56
there and throttle them. And you just, you have to
24:58
prepare like you're playing against a top five preseason
25:02
team because they've still got the talent.
25:04
Like, I mean, we saw what Devante Ross did for Troy last
25:08
season in Iowa City and and obviously they have a ton of
25:11
other NFL talent on that roster. So yeah, that's that's pretty
25:15
much what we got from the players is preparing.
25:17
Like, you know, they're facing a top five team in the country.
25:20
On the defensive side of the football, we saw Montgomery get
25:22
his first career start at middle linebacker.
25:25
I did too. He was fine.
25:26
He was in the right spots and what definitely knew what he was
25:29
supposed to be doing out there. But like he made a lot of the
25:32
right reads. Now it's going to be a step up
25:33
in competition and certainly the running backs are going to be a
25:36
different one than what he saw. We could go at Wisconsin.
25:39
What you think of Montgomery and Harold not on the depth chart
25:42
again this week with that injury?
25:44
Yeah, and we got to talk to Montgomery today.
25:47
So to me what that says is it's going to be Montgomery again.
25:50
Obviously, you know, getting the depth chart that's that's one
25:53
thing you never you never fully buy into the depth chart with
25:56
Kirk parents, but we getting him today.
25:59
I think was was telling that it's going to be Montgomery
26:02
again at Mike linebacker. But yeah, I thought he was
26:04
really good there. There are two plays that stick
26:06
out for me on the first half. They stuck out during the game,
26:09
but especially during my rewatch for for Monday morning
26:12
quarterback that we put out every day after getting more
26:15
contact from the game and rewatching it and you know, even
26:18
rewinding and seeing what's going on in every play.
26:20
But to me, there were two plays stuck out.
26:24
He had an early pressure on a roll out by by Simmons to the
26:27
left, which forced Simmons to make an errant throw.
26:30
And he's pretty much threw it into the dirt.
26:31
And then the next play, he took a lead block from their
26:34
linebacker who's a big dude, shook him off, made the tackle.
26:38
And those are two plays that, you know, Jaden Harrell may have
26:41
very well made that first play with the pressure.
26:43
But the second one, like Jaden's ability to read and react with
26:47
speed is, I think, better than what we saw from Harold so far.
26:51
And granted, we didn't get to see a ton of snaps of Montgomery
26:54
on defense because how how awful the Wisconsin offense was.
26:58
And like you said, a step up in competition.
27:01
Even though Penn State hasn't played great, they still have
27:03
the personnel. They have way better personnel
27:04
than than Wisconsin does. But yeah, I thought he was good.
27:09
And like, you can talk about the physical limitations of him
27:12
being a little bit shorter. You can talk about things like
27:14
that. But I mean, he kept talking
27:16
about preparation over and over and over again today.
27:19
And I don't know that, you know, and I'm not saying that that
27:24
Harold hasn't prepared like that's, that's not what I'm
27:26
saying. But that's something that
27:28
Montgomery continually pointed back to.
27:31
And what what you think in here going into the second week of
27:36
him starting is prepare like you did the last two weeks as well,
27:40
prepare like you did on your first start, because that was an
27:44
indication his preparation. If that's really what it is, if
27:47
that's what he's pointing to, it was really good.
27:49
I I thought there were a couple of plays that he really showed
27:52
his ability to read and react with speed.
27:54
And when you're a Mike linebacker and you have to for
27:57
the Iowa defense, where the defense funnels tackles to you,
28:00
you have to make the right read and you have to react when you
28:03
make that read. So, and, and that's what
28:06
Montgomery did. And I, I think Harold has lacked
28:08
that a little bit. So you want to see more of that
28:10
month from Montgomery? My last thing for you is let's
28:12
try and finish up a feast. Got something?
28:14
I know I think Brian Allen met with you guys did Graves and if
28:17
so, and if he didn't, did he get get a good nature ribbing from
28:22
his teammates for not being able to house that pick getting as
28:25
close as he did? That's awesome.
28:26
What? What?
28:28
Even from the offensive line. Nice.
28:31
Logan Jones was saying, hey, you're repping the fat guys out
28:33
there. You got to go do something with
28:35
it. So, and I don't know if you guys
28:37
saw this for me on Twitter. I think we got to start calling
28:39
the defensive line the cookie dough boys because they're
28:43
they're getting more, more, more interceptions than than the
28:47
secondary. So which by the way, Seth
28:49
Wallace is still referring to the secondary is the no boys.
28:52
So especially now that the defensive line is carrying the
28:55
weight of the turnover. So yeah, yeah, been good stuff.
28:59
Final thing for me, we're going to see a register freshman
29:02
making his first career start in drunk buyer this weekend.
29:05
His backup, though, is Jackson Smolick and from Dowling
29:08
Catholic and didn't have an offer from Iowa and Iowa.
29:10
State He's coming home, Trent. He's coming back to Kinnick
29:13
Stadium, where we know young quarterbacks at Kinnick in a
29:16
night game, not exactly a place that they normally thrive.
29:18
In fact, we go back to the last Penn State Iowa night game in
29:21
2021 after an injury to Sean Clifford.
29:25
That backup was not Red T2 play. What do you anticipate
29:28
quarterback wise, what we're going to see this week?
29:30
And do you know anything at all about the starting quarterback
29:32
for Penn State? Yeah, it'll be Cronk Meyer.
29:36
Like like I mentioned, a four-star kid that that was
29:41
obviously highly recruited. I think he was a top ten kid in
29:43
that class. Was he really?
29:45
Wow, so. Yeah, not lacking in talent.
29:48
Not lacking in talent. It is about what I mentioned
29:50
with Montgomery. It is going to be about about
29:53
the preparation. It's going to be about chemistry
29:56
because Drew Holler wasn't great this season.
29:59
I think the mixture of him with Codel Nikki was was not
30:02
particularly good their offense coordinator.
30:05
But like I said, I mean, what happened with with Nebraska?
30:10
And granted, that's a different situation.
30:12
I guess they had their starting quarterback coming in here.
30:14
But yeah, man, I I don't know a ton about Brooke Meyer other
30:18
than the fact that he was a four-star kid that he does have
30:20
that talent. So it's going to be different
30:25
and and if you're Phil Parker that he's been dialing up the
30:27
pressure and that's going to make Crunkmeyer really have to
30:31
make some quick throws, make some quick read.
30:34
And and if you're Iowa and especially the secondary, you're
30:38
probably licking your chops right now thinking about
30:41
turnovers and forcing those turnovers and maybe getting
30:44
another blowout win against Big 10 competition, which definitely
30:47
doesn't hurt. I mean, this team has gotten
30:49
better week to week. You guys like those two losses
30:52
are tough. Iowa State when they were way
30:54
more healthy, Indiana looking like maybe the best team in the
30:57
country, like Iowa might be a lot better than what folks gave
31:00
them credit for to start the year.
31:02
So it should be a fun one this weekend.
31:04
Elliott Cleft 24/7 Sports, hawkeyeinsider.com Elliott,
31:08
thank you as always. We'll try and run you down next
31:10
Tuesday. Thank you, Sir.
31:11
Appreciate it. Sounds good.
31:13
Thanks guys. Yeah, thank you, Elliott.
31:14
Good stuff. Real quick before we go to
31:16
break. Smolik the kid, Yeah, he can
31:19
leave. I mean, they can all leave,
31:21
right? He's not playing.
31:25
I'm asking you getting back close to home.
31:28
Is there is there a jam and does it make?
31:30
Sense why did his was he offered?
31:32
He wasn't either one of them. No, his recruitment was really
31:36
weird. He didn't he had a bunch of mid
31:38
majors. You know, he got I want to say
31:41
like it was Tulane and Cal were like his and they came later
31:45
then Penn State and then very quickly he committed my gosh, I
31:48
mean it was far and away his best offer.
31:51
I don't know connection wise anything like that, but heck
31:55
we'll see. Drunkmeyer.
31:57
Looks like, I mean if if he's that highly recruited.
32:00
But if it doesn't go well, then all of a sudden Jackson Small is
32:04
out there tossing it around and coming back home.
32:06
And at minimum, he's the backup this weekend.
32:09
I wouldn't be surprised if we see him on the field.
32:11
We'll hear about the Green Bay Packers next.
32:13
We're going to bounce around Dave, sinicanzonecoverage.com,
32:16
Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
32:31
I'm Millie Condon. Welcome back, Iowa Sports Radio
32:33
Network. Trenton Ken with you until 2.
32:35
Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com. He covers Major League Baseball.
32:39
He kicks off the second hour. Bill Bender covers college
32:42
football for The Sporting News. Dave Sinican
32:46
writes@zonecoverage.com on those Packers host Packer Preview year
32:50
#30 on KFAN every Sunday morning prior to the Packers games on
32:56
KFAN. Hello, Dave Sinican, Trenton,
32:58
Ken, how are you? Good boys, good to talk to you
33:02
as always. What I want to start with you is
33:04
those Indiana Hoosiers, and I'm sure you'll be fine with that
33:08
because man, oh man, I was one that certainly respected what
33:12
the what the they were doing. Signetti's got this team
33:15
rolling. But come on, you're not going to
33:17
beat Oregon going over there. It's a road game.
33:19
They dismantled the Ducks, and I thought the Ducks were pretty
33:22
good football team. I still do.
33:24
But your alma mater's football team is off and running.
33:27
Dave Sinnikin. It's pretty surreal.
33:30
That's the biggest win in program history.
33:32
And yeah, I wasn't so sure they'd have a great chance going
33:36
out there and winning either. That was the big knock last year
33:40
was, you know, the schedule had lined up and who did they beat?
33:42
And in the big moments against Ohio State, Notre Dame, they
33:45
didn't step up. And obviously this year so far
33:49
with what they did to Illinois and then handling Iowa and then,
33:52
of course, last week, I think everybody realizes that cursing.
33:56
He can coach and he's got to really tell talented team.
33:59
And what really impressed me was they dominated that game up
34:03
front on both sides of the ball. They they were more talented
34:06
defensively. The quarterback was better.
34:08
The receivers were better. Yeah, this is a this is a legit
34:13
national championship contender. And that's not his sentence I
34:16
ever thought I would say in my lifetime.
34:18
Basketball, maybe, but certainly not football.
34:21
Maybe. Yeah, been a while.
34:23
Go ahead, Trent. Sorry.
34:24
Found a way to get it done. It wasn't pretty, but Green Bay
34:28
gets the win and just stack another one up there.
34:30
Run the record of three, one and one.
34:32
Now on the season concerned, happy with the where do you sit
34:37
with this team? Because you know, of all these
34:39
kind of contenders, if you will, in the NFC, it feels like, at
34:42
least to me, the Packers might be the most difficult to get a
34:45
real good read on at this point. Yeah, I think that's fair
34:49
because they looked really good against two solid playoff teams
34:52
to start the season. And then when the competition
34:55
was lesser, it's like they played up or down to the level
34:58
of competition. It's sort of a glass half full,
35:01
empty sort of scenario. I think it's easy to be kind of
35:05
down on anybody's team when you see problems show up week after
35:10
weekend. For Green Bay, the last couple
35:12
games it's been defense coming out of halftime, which is just
35:16
really hard to figure because they've just been dominant in
35:19
the first half defensively. You know, Sunday against
35:21
Cincinnati, first four drives, they had one first down.
35:24
They had 65 years of offense and halftime and Green Bay was only
35:28
up 10, nothing but felt like they were up 20 to nothing.
35:31
There wasn't going to be much of a ball game.
35:34
And then Cincinnati comes out and 10 minute drive, 80 yards
35:37
and defense didn't stop them in the second-half.
35:40
So I think I'm just wondering what's going on with this
35:43
defense going into the second-half when teams make
35:46
adjustments that the Bengals decided to get the ball out of
35:49
Flacco's hands as fast as possible.
35:51
That's what DAC did. And the Packers don't have a
35:53
counter for that. So, yeah, just I guess a bit
35:56
concerned defensively, they are missing Devonte Wyatt and they
35:59
don't really have a guy without him.
36:01
There's not much behind it on the depth charts as they traded
36:04
Kenny Clark. So that's my main concern.
36:06
But otherwise, special teams was cleaned up.
36:09
Jordan Love continues to roll. Josh Jacobs got his groove on.
36:12
He was great. So, you know, again, you don't
36:14
want to peak in October, obviously.
36:17
But yeah, just concerns on the defensive side of the ball right
36:20
now. Another concern Luca Van Ness
36:23
looks sounds like Van Ness may miss some time.
36:25
What are you hearing about the former Hawkeye?
36:28
Yeah, I don't think we'll know for sure till tomorrow.
36:30
I do know that they were going to run an MRI on his foot.
36:33
He did have the one sack the Packers achieved on Sunday.
36:36
Another thing that bugs me is the Packers are not sacking the
36:39
quarterback and they're not getting turnovers.
36:41
They have two all season. Lucas did his part.
36:44
The initial reports were they didn't think there was any kind
36:47
of fracture or break of the bone of the foot.
36:49
They thought it was a soft tissue type of thing.
36:52
You know, you worry about the list, Frank injury, the dreaded
36:54
list Frank. You hope it's not that.
36:56
I don't have any updates. Definitely concerned as finally
37:00
Green Bay was taking calls on another pass rusher, Kingsley
37:03
and Igbari because they're so deep.
37:05
They're like four or five guys they really like.
37:08
They may hang up the phone right now, but looks like Lucas is
37:10
going to miss some time. Hopefully, hopefully it won't be
37:13
too long term. So there was a lot of talk about
37:17
the officiating to Micah Parsons after the game.
37:20
Blatant, egregious holding calls against him.
37:24
Kind of goes with the territory. When you're going up against a
37:26
crafty offensive line like Cincinnati, they're going to
37:28
probably try to do everything possible to slow him down.
37:31
Do you notice officiating maybe a little bit different for #1?
37:36
Yeah, I don't notice a live, to be honest with you, but I've
37:38
seen a number of videos that people have posted where he's
37:41
just getting basically arm around his neck and, you know,
37:46
they're definitely paying special attention and going
37:49
above and beyond. I mean, maybe all the great pass
37:51
rushers face that, I don't know. But when a team points it out,
37:56
it's certainly it's something we want the officials to keep an
37:59
eye on it. Maybe that'll just be something
38:01
that now officiating crews know that the Packers have made the
38:04
stake and they should. Look, I do think that, you know,
38:07
Parsons is really cool about it. He hasn't talked about it, but
38:10
I've seen enough plays where I'm thinking, man, if I were him, I
38:13
don't know how I'd be so quiet about it.
38:14
That's crazy. He doesn't get a whistle.
38:17
He is, you know, not putting a lot of sacks on the board just
38:22
yet. But he is getting pressure.
38:23
He's getting a lot of attention, and the other guys around him
38:26
are certainly the benefactors. But yeah, we'll see if the
38:28
whistle gets a little bit different since the Packers make
38:31
some noise about it. Help me out with the division
38:33
overall. We saw the Bears win yesterday.
38:35
Vikings off a bye week, probably got lucky, crossed the pond.
38:39
They didn't come home. Owen 2 Detroit got pasted by
38:42
Kansas City. Looked like they were good after
38:44
they got embarrassed in week number one.
38:46
Help me out with the division, Dave.
38:48
I kind of see it as up for grabs.
38:49
How about you? I think all four teams are going
38:53
to be when they start playing each other.
38:54
It's going to be a dog fight. I think, you know, all four have
38:57
a chance to reach the postseason.
38:58
The Bears. But that was a game the Bears
39:00
always lose, right? You know, the Washington's got
39:03
the ball, just going to run the clock out and suddenly the Bears
39:06
get some luck and they actually do something with it.
39:08
So maybe that means the tide has turned a bit for the Bears.
39:11
And then Ben Johnson and his coaching staff is going to
39:13
figure out how to win some of those close games.
39:16
And other schedules barely stop the next few weeks.
39:19
They're going to stay right in the next.
39:20
Yeah, I, I think it's open. I think Green Bay and Detroit
39:23
are still the best two teams in the division.
39:25
I think ultimately they're going to be on top.
39:27
But you know, Green Bay doesn't get Chicago until late in the
39:30
season like twice in a three-week span.
39:33
They don't play another division game till late November.
39:35
So it's going to get so fun around Thanksgiving time because
39:38
that's when all these teams in the North start playing each
39:42
other. We thought heading in it was the
39:43
best division in football. I don't think there's any
39:45
argument at this point. And you know, you don't.
39:49
You look around the rest of the NFC and you don't see a lot of
39:52
really strong teams in that wild card rain.
39:54
I guess a couple of the teams out West, maybe Atlanta's found
39:57
something. But I think there's a chance
39:58
that the whole division makes the postseason.
40:00
It would be crazy. It would be Dave
40:02
sinicanzonecoverage.com, zonecoverage.com to read them,
40:06
KFAN Sunday mornings, Packer Preview to listen to or anywhere
40:09
on anytime on the iheart app. Dave, great stuff.
40:12
Thank you for doing this. Appreciate it.
40:14
We will track you down next week.
40:16
Thank you, Dave Sinican. We have to look forward to it,
40:18
guys. Take care.
40:19
Yeah, good to talk to you, Dave. Sinicans, we check in one of our
40:21
regional teams, the Green Bay Packers.
40:24
You have a read on them? No, none, none, none.
40:27
I think they're like Dave said, I think it's the Packers and the
40:30
Lions at the top. I think your Bears arrow's
40:32
pointing up and it depends on JJ McCarthy, I think.
40:38
Is he getting the job back? I don't know.
40:39
I mean, yeah, don't. Yeah, don't.
40:41
Yeah, I think you got it, though, don't you?
40:45
I mean Carson Wentz. See what you have.
40:49
I think you have to you put all your eggs in that basket.
40:52
All right, our number 2 will kick it off with Major League
40:54
Baseball, Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com, College football
40:58
with Bill Bender Trends, Plays of the Day Circus sports sponsor
41:02
Miller and Condon on Des Moines Sports Station One O 6.3 KXNO.