Badger, Big Ten Update with Jesse Temple + Hoosier Hype & LSU Lowdown with Brody Miller
Until Saturday: A show about college football
The Athletic
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2020
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
News blew in on a strong gust Tuesday, as the Wisconsin announced starting QB, Graham Mertz, tested positive for Covid-19, in addition, doubt loomed over UW"s conference clash with Nebraska on Saturday. Andy enlists the service of The Athletic's University of Wisconsin penman, Jesse Temple, to analyze the maelstrom of info (:30). What is the Big Ten's protocol for players who have contracted Covid? How long will Mertz be sidelined? What other options do the Badgers have at QB, and what will the Big Ten do about Wisconsin-Nebraska? With a well timed transitionary sound effect ("well timed" is debatable), Andy is now chatting with The Athletic's LSU scribe and University of Indiana alumnus, Brody Miller, who, for few minutes, is reveling in Indiana's spectacular win over Penn State (7:00). Just how good is former Tennessee commit, Penix Jr. (10:30)?! Now that there are expectations Indiana has to live up to, is Brody worried the team will crumble? From UI to LSU, just how impressive was last week's offensive showcase, and what lead to TJ Finley and the offense's success (15:45)? How beneficial is it to have to competent QBs (18:30)? The guys preview the Tigers' upcoming date with Auburn and examine the former's defensive miscues (19:30). What matchups could play in either team's favor (22:30)? Is it too late in the season to consider South Carolina as the inflection point in LSU's season (26:30), and can we safely assess who/what this Auburn team is (29:00)?
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Follow Jesse on Twitter: @jessetemple
Follow Brodie on Twitter: @BrodyAMiller
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Andy Staples Show, and it did not take long before the Big Ten had its first major issues with COVID-19. |
| 0:18.0 | I'm here with Jesse Temple, our Wisconsin beatwriter, and Jesse, you are dealing with |
| 0:22.0 | quite an interesting situation here. Graham Merck's, the hero of Friday's winning in |
| 0:27.9 | Illinois, the future of the quarterback position at Wisconsin. He's out. He's got a positive |
| 0:34.4 | COVID test confirmed by a PCR test. Our Bruce Feldman confirmed that and reported it. |
| 0:40.6 | And now it looks like other positive tests may jeopardize the Wisconsin-Nebraska game entirely. |
| 0:48.2 | Yeah, you're right. It didn't take long for this to happen in the Big Ten. And I think it was |
| 0:53.7 | inevitable just based on what we've seen in some of the other conferences with games |
| 0:57.4 | being canceled or postponed. And Wisconsin has four scholarship quarterbacks. The first one, |
| 1:03.5 | Jack Cohn, who was going to come into the season as the starter, he suffered a foot injury |
| 1:07.4 | and underwent surgery about three weeks ago. So he was going to be out |
| 1:11.2 | indefinitely. You mentioned Graham Mertz, the savior in some people's minds. He's the highest rated |
| 1:16.4 | quarterback signy that Wisconsin has had in the online ranking era. He was tremendous in the season |
| 1:21.2 | opener. It was his first career start, 20 for 21, 248 yards, five touchdowns in a route |
| 1:27.2 | against the Illini. |
| 1:28.7 | And it looked like, man, this guy, he might be one of the great quarterbacks that Wisconsin's had. |
| 1:33.3 | And certainly he's got a long future ahead of him. |
| 1:35.9 | But less than 48 hours later, as you mentioned, he and the program are dealing with this, |
| 1:41.7 | where as you said, he's got a second positive test. |
| 1:43.6 | Now, that means he'll be sidelined a minimum of 21 days under the Big Ten's protocol, |
| 1:49.4 | which is more strict than other conferences. |
| 1:52.4 | And now they're trying to figure out if there is a game against Nebraska, who else will be available? |
... |
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