September 9, 2024 • 28 mins
In the second hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain chat with Steven Souza Jr about the lack of excitement in the Mariners after a St. Louis series win, then talk to Huskies quarterback Will Rogers about UW’s week two win and the Apple Cup ahead this week.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Coming to you live from the Elliet Avenue studios of
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. This is our
weekly visit with former Mariners outfielders Steven Suza Junior, powered
by Taco Time. For all your favorites and to order
ahead from any Taco Time restaurant, download the Taco Time
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(00:22):
Google play Store. Taco Time a Pacific Northwest favorite since
nineteen sixty two. Now with Stephen Susa Junior, here's Safti
and Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Has anybody ever seen the movie While You Were Sleeping
with Sandra Bullock? I'm gonna pull a chick cart chick
flick out. You ever see the movie While you Were Sleeping?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
When I was dating? Anybody?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
And now, okay, well, there's a movie called While You
Were Sleeping where Sandra Bullock basically convinces a guy that
they're dating while he's in a coma and wakes up
and he has no idea, right, he thinks that it's
like legit. I feel like we should do we should
do a movie while you were footballing, Because while we
were footballing over the weekend, the MS went to Saint
Louis won two out of three against the Cardinals and
(01:02):
find themselves three and a half games back in the Wildcard.
I mean we should be excited about this, right any
baseball team that's three and a half games out with
eighteen games left to go, you should feel like you
got a shot. But I don't feel like people really
give a damn, including you.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
No.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Steven Suza joining us right now courtesy ATTACKO time.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
How are you, man? What's going on?
Speaker 4 (01:23):
I'm doing great? Just a correction, there's still four and
a half out.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So, uh, they're three and a half out. They're three
and a half out in a wildcard. They're four and
a half games out in the West, gotcha?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay. You know it's uh.
I think it's just a demeanor you come to expect.
You know, there's no run with this team, and it's
the history has proven that. You know, eventually they're they're
gonna fall short just a little bit. And I think
that's why there's a lack of excitement within three and
a half games. You also have a couple of teams
(01:54):
you have to jump in the Boston Red Sox and
I think the Royals, and they've lost both of those
series throughout the year, so it still really is four
and a half because of the end up tying with
those guys, both of those teams get the advantage.
Speaker 5 (02:07):
Well, it seems to me that this year is different
because in order to come back from three and a
half in this short of time, I mean, you have
to be able to put together a run, right, I
mean you gotta go nine and one over a course
of ten games and just really get hot. And in
years past seven I felt hopeful that at least they
had an offense that was good enough that they could
(02:27):
get hot for ten days. I just don't think this
offense is capable of getting hot for ten days.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yeah, I think. You know, if you look at the
body of work, I would agree with you, and I
think that's what you're alluding to. You know, given the
correction from Edgar coming in, there has been some success
in the way that they've manufactured runs and kind of
strung multiple inning hits in good ads together. This is
probably the second or third time since Edgar's taking over
(02:56):
that you saw this kind of a bunch of singles
in a row, doubles move the guys around good at that,
and you know that's what you were kind of looking
for all year. These guys don't slug the ball at
the out of the park at a consistent basis. So
you know, I think if they can keep continue down
this track, they beat some good pitching in Saint Louis,
then you know they got a chance. I think they're
running into a buzz saw here with you know, Kumar
(03:17):
Raka is going to make his debut, He's unbelievable. I've
heard that Jacob deGrom is going to make his debut
this week, and I've heard that Mac Suresre's coming back
this week. So you're going to have your your you know,
your work cut out for you against the Rangers. And
you know, we know that they've really struggled against a
good pitching this year.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well nine to seven with Dan Wilson as the manager.
I mean, just doing the quick math, if the Astros
go ten to nine, the ms have to go fourteen
and four to catch him over the final eighteen and
one of those wins has got to be against the Astros,
by the way, so they can win the series.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
But the offense does look a little better.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I mean, obviously it might be way too little, way
too late. When it's all said and done, sixteen runs
against the Cardinals got shut out. I mean, let's face it, guys,
they should have swept Saint Louis because Logan go touched
his nuts off on Saturday night in Saint Louis and
got Jack Doody to show for it. So that's the frustration,
is that, my god, you win the series, but you
(04:09):
should have swept them. So what do you see in
Edgar Martinez doing? What's Dan Wilson doing to kind of
dumb this down and get this offense to look a
little better.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
You know, I think in the case of their record,
in the nine and seven record, they've lost a lot
of one run games that could have gone either way,
and that's kind of been the tail all year. And
you know, I don't know if you can really you know,
fault Dan for that part right there, but it just
seems like, you know, especially with Julio, you know, if
you watch him over the next couple of weeks, it
seems like his load is a little bit smaller. It's
(04:39):
a little bit more simple over approach, not trying to
crush the ball kind of you know, we talked really
early in the season. It's just that he was trying
to drive the ball out of the yard and overswinging
and late and those things compounding on top of each other.
But it seems like whatever you know verbiage that Edgar
is using, it's landing with the players and they're coming
up with confidence because this scored double digit runs on
(05:01):
this road trip multiple times. That was a rarity all
year long. And not only not only that, just winning
seven to four and different different types of ways to
win instead of just a three to two game. And
if they don't, if the team scores more than three,
they lose. So you know, like I said, they got
their work cut out for him down the stretch here.
But I'm definitely seeing some improvement out there.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Well. I, among others, have been screaming at the top
of my lungs all season to see Julia Rodriguez in
the leadoff spot, and it was nice to see him
go two for five there in his second game in
the leadoff spy yesterday. Did how long do you think
this experiment will last and how successful do you think
it'll be?
Speaker 4 (05:38):
I think it's a great choice. And this is where
I think Dan kind of brings some a different perspective
of being able to shift guys around the lineup. You
saw him kind of move up and down based on
who's swinging it. And look, I think JP's a professional hitter.
But when you're not going good and you're basically an
out of the top of the lineup, you can't just say, hey,
you're going to turn it around, like it's okay to
shift him down in the lineup and pick up somebody new.
(05:59):
And then the same point, get Julio going, because we've
seen him be really successful in that leadoff spot. So
as long as he's successful and you can you can
get him to you know, he's on eleven game hitting streak. Now,
if you can continue to roll like that, you leave
him there, don't move him at all unless a ros
arena and the rest of the guys kind of pick
up the sluck in the middle of the order the
best you can, because you just need him to be
(06:19):
on base, creating havoc scoring runs as much as you can.
If it's the leadof spot that's going to do it,
and so be it.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Well, you got twelve games until the Astro series. They
can find a way to be within three games, a
couple of games. I mean, I don't want to be
three and a half. I want to be three or less. Right,
that's it. By the time the Astro game Astro series
comes around, are you starting to see maybe a little
kink in the armor for Houston? They've kind of maybe
settled down just a little bit. Obviously, they've lost what
(06:48):
four of their last six games, and then here comes
a series against the A's followed by series against the
Angels for the Astros.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
So that fight five and one might doing some good.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
But are you seeing an Astro team cooling off one
that's about to get hot again?
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah? I mean they were on the road against a
good team in Kansas City, and I thought that they
took care of the Diamonbacks pretty good. They won two
out of three, and they obviously got swept in Cincinnati,
so that's not great. But they got an easy schedule too.
They got the A's, the Angels. You know, the Padres
are tough, but they got the Angels again and then
the Mariners, so it's not like they've got an uphill battle.
Come from the toughest part of their schedules kind of
(07:24):
over But they've been inconsistent two all years. So it's
not like they're running away from this thing. And that's
why I think everybody's kind of holding on for some
hope because you know, they should be twenty games over
five hundred. They're not, and the Mariners are you know,
should we keep getting buried but they're not getting buried,
So you know, there's it's gonna be a tough road.
They can't lose a series the rest of the way basically,
and at some point they're gonna have to sweep somebody.
(07:46):
And if they can do that, then you know what
we can we can start looking for a playoffs.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Well, if there's in my opinion, if there's any glimmer
at all, it's with the wild card because there's three wildcards. Now,
I wouldn't have any hope all of the wild cards.
There's only two. But you know, Minnesota is in the
third spot right now. Detroit and Seattle are tied in
the fourth spot three and a half games back. So
tell me how vulnerable you feel Minnesota and Detroit are
(08:15):
just sliding over the next three weeks.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Yeah, I mean Detroit can easily slide, right, They've they've
been very inconsistent all year long, and and I think
to to to think on them being good is tough.
You know, Minnesota is gonna be a tough one. They've
got a tougher schedule down the stretch. Right They've got
the Guardians for four, the Red Sox for three, and
(08:39):
the Orioles to finish out the year for three. And
that leaves an opportunity for the Mariners right there to
come in. And they've they've been really inconsistent with their
with their game the last couple weeks. You know, they
lost three, got swept by the Royals, lost two out
of four to the Rais, and they just haven't played
as good as they were early on the So look
(09:01):
at September. Baseball is all about getting hot at the
right moment, and if these guys are just kind of
stumbling it, it leaves again the gap for the Mariners.
So I like the chances that one of those teams
at least stumbled.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I'm trying to remember, have we spoken to you since
the news broke that Depoto was going to come back
next year?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
We have not?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Well, what do you think?
Speaker 4 (09:24):
Yeah, you know, it's it's an interesting take. It's I think,
you know, Ken Rosenthal wrote, an article over the week
about just the state of baseball and how ownership, you know,
is not often on the same page of competing as
the rest of the fan base. You know. I think
there's a disconnect between what the fans actually want to
(09:45):
see and want to happen and what ownership feels comfortable
doing over the last three years. And when you have
somebody like Jerry who's you know, done a decent job
in terms of building a farm system. It's that the
most players in the top one hundred, and it's done
a really good job of that, developed pitching and done
some things. Well, you know, there's no real need to
mix up the market for them. They've got fans in
(10:07):
the seat, you know. And and I don't know that
they really want to start over with this thing, because
I think if they do, they realize there's gonna be
some ticket sales that are lost in there. So holding
on for dear breath and and dear life and and
hopefully Jerry can turn it around and actually make the
moves and do something you know, productive in the winter,
because more of the same is going to drive these
(10:28):
fans nuts.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
Do you feel like ownership's primary goal is to win
a world series or do you think ownership's primary goal
is to stay competitive and make money.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
You know, I think I'm a big believer in action
speak louder than words, and you know, they haven't really
been good with their words in these pr in these
news conferences. But you can't convince me that signing guys
like Luis Urius and Mitch Garber, you know, or the
year for Tomula Stella and aj Pollock, you know, the
(11:02):
Diasker move was good. But you can't convince me that
those are world series investments, right, like going out to
get somebody and really going after a star. There's none
of that right trying to They're just constantly trying to
thread the needle. And so I believe Jerry's handcuffed at
some limits by what the ownership is presenting to him
(11:24):
that he can spend in the offseason. And so part
of this isn't Jerry's fault, but it's Stanton. But again,
Stanton is just a representation that a lot of the
owners around the league where they don't really care about winning.
They just want to make sure that they're building up
their net profit and what they're getting and hopefully cash
out later down the road, because you know, guys like
Cohen are the guys that are going for it, and
you can see that in their roster.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah, I mean, look, I'm glad you mentioned that because
in some small way you kind of feel bad for
Stanton because he's not even the majority guy. Yet he's
the guy that's trotting out there every time getting his
ass chewed out by the fan base of the media,
when the other guys are just sitting behind the scenes,
you know, like screw's a duck counting a big old
pile of money for God's sakes.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Man.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So I'm totally with you, all right, man, Steven, good stuff.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
We'll see where we are.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
In a week from now. Who knows, maybe they'll be
closer and we can start dreaming a little bit. Buddy,
appreciate this beout.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Yeah, there we go. Hopefully we got something talking about
next week.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
I can just sens fired up as iron man.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Well, is anybody out listen? Go ahead, listen, I'm about
as fired up as Mike McDonald calling that bootleg on
the first play on the one yard line and getting
a holding call in a safety. All right, that's about
fired up. By that next week, we.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Look at you with the football analysis.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I could come back and break down the Seahawk picture
game for us next week.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
For God's all right, let's do this.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
We'll we'll let you go and we're talking a week
and we'll see what's happening.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I appreciate this man.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Alright, guys, have a good one, all right.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Steven Susan.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
I will say you are the most optimistic fan and
have been for months than any other person that I know.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Well, let me ask you a question.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Uh, I want you to ask me if I think
the Mariners are gonna make the playoffs?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
You think they're No, you're not. Okay, no you're not.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
But I do think though that when you're three and
a half out, there's a glimmer of hope, right yeah,
maybe even more than a glimmer.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I mean, obviously, all this is context.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
If the Mariners had been struggling and then went on
this big run to get to this point here, and
oh my god, you wake up both three and a
half games out, people would feel a lot different.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
But and I get it. I get why you're off
the wagon.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I get why Jackson doesn't give a damn, and I
get why the fans will give a damn. I mean
I'm not you know, come on, guys, I mean, nobody
knows this fan base better than us.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Ten games up, you pissed that away.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You've lost fourteen and a half games and the standings
and the last two months like you shouldn't even be here.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
This thing should be over. We should be.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Talking about getting playoff tickets. We should be talking to
our buddies about who's gonna chip in for the first round,
who's gonna get the World Series tickets? We should you'll
be having a draft, you know, to decide who gets
to go to what game. All of us should be
thinking about taking time off in October to watch playoff baseball.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I totally understand it, but I just think that there should.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Be at least a little bit of attention paid to
this baseball team as long as they're within striking distance
of a playoff spot, where eighteen games left to go,
and maybe the little bit of attention that we pay
to him is what we just did. I can talk
football the rest of the week, and we should.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Can I just provide context whatever to the three and
a half games Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Hey, I just told you they gotta go fourteen and
four If the astro is good ten to nine.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
I get it.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
I just wanted to look up exactly where we were
Visa VI Minnesota. Yes, right now the standings say three
and a half, we're actually four back in the lost
caller and we've lost the tiebreaker with Minnesota already, so
you have to outplay them by five games, which is
basically where we are with Houston. So the advantage that
I thought we had in the wild card over the division,
(14:48):
we actually don't have in the wild Card.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I think it's and I mean this with love, Okay, yes,
I mean this with love. I think it's a little
bit of captain obvious by people who say they're done
because of exactly the point you just made. They have
a huge mountain to climb. Like I just said, they
gotta go fourth. That that that's with Houston going ten
and nine. If Houston puts together like an eleven and eight,
then forget that said they gotta go fifteen and three.
(15:13):
I mean, it's a massive, massive mountain to climb. But
like I said, if I would have told you back
in March that we're gonna wake up on September of
the ninth and the M's are gonna be three and
a half games out in the wild card, four and
a half games out in the division, you would have said,
all right, maybe they got a bit of a shot
to do some damage and maybe sneak in and get there.
(15:34):
But they obviously, people have just lost faith in these guys.
They're tired of them, they're bothered by them. I told
you guys in our staff meeting this morning, it's almost
like people just want them to die so they can
watch football and not be bothered by them.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Because because I know what they're gonna do, they're gonna
fall short.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
I get that. I totally get to the fact they're
gonna fall short. But is there any room for something
crazy happens? The Astros fall up part. The Ems just
have two weeks of one hundred and sixty two game
season where they go on a run, and that runs enough.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
Well, I think it's just because they've been an unentertaining
product or all season long. Now, if this was a
team that had the exact same record as the Mariners do,
now what a weak seventy seven.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Seventy three and seventy seventy three and seventy one.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Alright, let's say they had the exact same record seventy
three seventy one, but they were like tenth in offense
in baseball and like twentieth in pitching, and they always
played seven to six games, and they had maybe stretches
of five six game losing streaks, but they also had
three or four winning streaks of like seven or eight
games this season. And they played really fun, entertaining baseball.
But we're still this much back. I'd be like, you
(16:40):
know what, right, I could tell my head and see
this team getting hot because they've gotten hot four or
five times this year.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
They haven't gotten hot four or five times this year.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Let's get a break, Will Rodgers from you up, We're
gonna join us next curtisy them out like future as recap,
but win over Eastern Michigan and talk about the Apple Cup.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Baby, how about that?
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It's Apple Cup Week right here on ninety three three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Coming to you live from your home for a Husky football.
This is our weekly conversation with you Dub quarterback Will Rogers,
brought to you by Muttlake Futures, empowering University of Washington
student athletes by leveraging name, image and likeness for a
positive community impact. Visit Muttlake Futures dot com today to
find out how you can donate. Now with Will Rogers,
(17:23):
here's SOFTI and dig ball.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
The forty one yard line. Rogers goes out of the
shot and takes a stand. Wants to take a shot
off the right. Sign to the rap, tie it up
the right sign. He get it again. Tell it's to
the pound, waiting for the signal.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Two years off touchdown Washington, forty one beautiful yards after
Rogers out of the gun too by one formation and
it's going to throw to the Anzel Cock.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Tenzel Boston touchdown.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Split Dependers won a ball from Eil Rogers and Tenzil
Boston holds onto it, his second touchdown reception of the year.
All right, we are back at the Ebroo Quake Casino,
and if anybody is sitting around, im going, how come
you guys are playing George Straight? Well, because we asked
Will hey Man, favorite band, favorite singer, you pick the bumper,
(18:08):
You picked the Red Joe, and he said, George Straight,
I'm starting to think though we might need something.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
A little more upbeat, a little more faster paced. Straight's awesome. Well,
of course he's awesome, but we can't do this every week.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Man, Well, second favorite singer, second favorite band besides George Straight,
give it to me.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Ah, that's a sow for one. I'm not huner, sure,
I'm big on uh big on Cody Johnson some of
those other guys, but George Strait's definitely my number one.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Done done, all right, I'll tell you what. You keep winning,
we keep paying, we keep doing George Straight. We won't
change it. As long as things are going good on
the field. Well, will Rogers back with us quarterback for you,
dub and man, all kinds of plays to point two
from that game on Saturday, you were twenty one to
twenty six, two sixty one, four touchdowns. Let's start, though,
with that fourth and one pass to Jiles Jackson from
(18:59):
the thirty yard line, because Jed Fish said today you
could not have started a game looking like the Bad
News bears more and could not have ended it looking
better than before and after that fourth and one throw
to Jiles Jackson. So tell us about that decision and
why that kind of got you guys going you think
a little bit Saturday?
Speaker 6 (19:21):
Yeah, I don't know. We haven't really kind of figured
it out. While we're starting slow or anything like that yet,
but it's definitely something that we have to fix. And
you know, I think this coming week of practice, I
think we're all excited for that. But the play was great.
I mean obviously kind of kickstarted us. And you know,
once Giles made that play and we converted the fourth
and one, it really got us go on the rest
of the day.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Tell us about the what the level of frustration was
in the huddle on the sidelines prior to that play,
and then what did it do emotionally after that play.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
I mean, I wouldn't say anybody was necessarily just overly frustrated.
You know, people just realizing that, you know, there's a
standard that we want to play too as an offense,
and you know, we weren't living up to that standard,
and you know, part of that's on me and part
of that's on some other guys. But you know, we
just have to we have to learn from it and
you know, just be better moving forward. But I thought,
(20:15):
obviously after John's made that play, it really it really
kick started us. And you know, I think we scored
on like the next six possessions or something like that,
So it was good.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, I got you for three touchdowns on twelve plays,
by the way after that play, so you guys really
really came alive, including the touchdown of the very next
play to Decker de grafh I mean, I don't know
how many people had Decker de Graph on their Bingo
card for being the best tight end after a couple
of weeks. Obviously, Quinton Moore is down and likely will
not play again Saturday in the Apple Cup. But give
us kind of your thoughts on your relationship and your
(20:46):
chemistry with Decor de Graph right now.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Man.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
I mean it's great. I mean we we kind of
got here at the same time. I think we got
here the same day through the I mean I was
coming through the transfer portal and he was coming out
of hospital. But he's just a guy that's worked hard
every single day. He doesn't he doesn't say a whole lot.
He doesn't, you know, talk a whole lot in the
locker room and things like that when he works hard.
I mean that what specific play is one that we
(21:12):
had drawn up all week, and he and I had
worked at you know, for about fifteen thirty minutes after
practice on Tuesday. So he's an extremely hard worker and
it's really cool just to see a freshman having the success.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
Is this a recent chemistry you've developed with him or
did you really have it all through fall camp.
Speaker 6 (21:33):
I wouldn't say like he and I are just like
you know, Batman or Robin or anything like that. But
I think it's just because he's he's worked hard and
he's you know, taking coaching, and he's gotten better every
single day, you know. So I think if he could
just continue to grow, continue to you know, work hard
in the weight room, work hard on the practice field,
(21:54):
you know, this guy's the limit for him in the future.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Well, Will Rogers again is with us ued up starting quarterback?
Be with us every Monday, courtesy of our friends at
at Montlake Futures. The touchdown did Jeremiah Hunter uh nine
to fifty seven to go third quarter?
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Made it twenty seven to six.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
I mean he was wide open, man, and you dropped
it right in there on a dime. Tell me about
that play and uh and why you were able to
this Saturday get him involved in the offense, you think, yeah,
I mean we.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
Obviously wanted to get him early, you know, had uh.
I thought he had a great uh great catch. I
think it was the first play coming out of halftime.
Uh so he had a great catch there for him
to just be able to top it off with the touchdown.
I thought it was a great route, kind kind of
got the coverage, kind of got the look we wanted in,
(22:43):
a great job by the offensive line, and we made
it happen.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
And you just talk about your overall sharpness in your
accuracy from week one to week two, it looked like
in week one there were just a few balls that
were just not quite I could tell what you're used
to throwing. And then I saw almost nothing that was
an accurate this last week. So where did that extra
sharpness come from this week versus last week?
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Probably just remps. I mean being back in the game
of you know, the flow of the game of a
real game on Saturday, not just being out there practicing
against our defense and fall count. So I mean probably
just being in the game like scenarios, and you know,
hopefully I could continue to get better weekend and week out.
So that's the challenge is to keep getting better every
(23:29):
single week and you know, be at your best come
the end of the season. So that's what we look
forward to this week is just a great week of practice.
Great week of preparation. But you know, we're big that
everything starts on the practice for us, so looking forward
to it.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
All?
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Right, Well, well will rogers with us? So what what?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
What does a kid who grew up in Mississippi know
about the Apple Cup?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Right?
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Give us, give us the depth of your Apple Cup history, man.
Speaker 6 (23:57):
I mean, I'm obviously familiar with it because of my
relationship with Gardner Minshew and then obviously my relationship with
Coach Leach and some of the staff that came with
him from Washington State. So I'm familiar with it. But
you know, I'm a I've I've also played in other
rivalry games and know how that goes and things like that.
And the biggest thing is, you know, you just have to,
(24:19):
you know, stay the course, take it one play at
a time. I don't want to say it's just another game,
because it's not just another game, but you have to,
you know, just take that mindset, take it one play
at the time, and just try and do your job
every single play.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Is it a disadvantage that you have so many guys
on this team right now that have never played in
this game, really don't know anything about this game?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Because the Cougars do.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
And the Cougars, as you know, lost on the last
second field goal last week or last year in this game,
and they've got a lot of guys that are still
stung from that.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
I don't know, I really don't know how.
Speaker 6 (24:54):
To answer that. I guess we'll see come Saturday at
twelve thirty. But the biggest thing for us, man is
I can't I can't say it enough. We just have
to have a great week of practice, great week of preparation.
You know, take it one day, one day at a time.
You know, we're not gonna beat Washington State, you know
on a Monday or Tuesday. You know, we just have
to prepare each every single day and just get better
(25:15):
as the week goes home.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
What are you improving at the most you think in
just the last couple of weeks, What area of the offense,
passing game, whatever? Do you think you guys have made
the biggest jump in progress?
Speaker 5 (25:25):
And you think.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
I mean, obviously we were able to hit some more
down the field shots this past game, so that's good.
But I think, you know, just being sharp every single week.
You know, it's a challenge, man. You know, it's one
thing to be able to do it, you know, one
or two weeks. But the challenge is is can you
you know, can you stack you know, four or five, six,
seven games in a row where you're playing well at
a high level on offense. So, I mean that's just
(25:49):
the biggest thing for us is we're all just trying
to get better, you know, myself, the receivers, the offensive line,
the running backs, everybody's trying to get better week in
and week out. Yeah, So that's just the big sean
for us.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
I'm looking here at the college football team yards per
rushing attempt. The Washington Huskies are third in America at
seven point four yards per attempt. So are you do
you feel less pressure out there from the defensive front
because the run game has been so good? What does
Joan and those rest of those guys do for you
(26:23):
as a passer?
Speaker 6 (26:27):
No, I mean it definitely helps me out a lot,
you know, the more that they can you know, pop
long runs and make make the draft shorter and.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
Things like that.
Speaker 6 (26:36):
I can't remember. It was maybe the second second touchdown
scoring drive where Jonah had the long run before and
really put us in position. So I mean, anytime he
can do that in the offensive line, you know, create
holes for him and the rest of the backs. Yeah,
it makes my job a lot easier for sure.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Well, Will, before you go, Will Rogers with us, do
you feel like you're starting to settle down with the
offensive line and find five guys that you can roll
with Saturday for the Apple Cup or do you expect
maybe some more shifting, some more tinkering to go on
during the game on Saturday.
Speaker 6 (27:10):
Oh, that's that's probably a question for coach BC or
coach Fish, you know. I mean, man, I can't I
can't say it enough. We just have to have a
great week of practice, and that starts with myself, that
starts with the offensive line and you know, the whole
the whole offense as a whole. So we have to
really be locked in and just have a great week
of practice, great week of preparation because we have the
(27:32):
utmost respect for Washington State.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
So yeah, yeah, looking.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Forward to it, looking forward to a great week of practice,
and hope to see all the Husky fans out come Saturday.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Well, I asked Fish the same question he said to
ask you today, So just just just just text me.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Off the air of the answer.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I won't tell anybody all right, I promise I'll keep
it between what between us? All right, Pal, Will Rogers
with us on the show. Hey, great to hear your voice.
Best of luck in the Apple Cup on Saturday, and
we'll talk soon.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Man, appreciate anybody.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
You bet, you bet.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Will Rogers with us on the air Apple Cup this weekend.
Just got a text from Richard old Baird who made
a great point. This will be on Saturday afternoon the
first time in Apple Cup history that both teams are undefeated.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
How about that?
Speaker 5 (28:18):
I thought you're gonna say, is the first time it
was played, not in November, in like one hundred years.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
I ever thought you'd see it, two undefeated teams in
the Apple Cup. I've been waiting our entire lives for
this moment. On Saturday at twelve thirty, textimonials. Next Monday
Night Football Niners Jets pregame at five with Kevin Harlan
right here on ninety three three kJ ARFN
Coming to you live from the Elliet Avenue studios of
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. This is our
weekly visit with former Mariners outfielders Steven Suza Junior, powered
by Taco Time. For all your favorites and to order
ahead from any Taco Time restaurant, download the Taco Time
Northwest app Today from the ample lapp store or the
(00:22):
Google play Store. Taco Time a Pacific Northwest favorite since
nineteen sixty two. Now with Stephen Susa Junior, here's Safti
and Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Has anybody ever seen the movie While You Were Sleeping
with Sandra Bullock? I'm gonna pull a chick cart chick
flick out. You ever see the movie While you Were Sleeping?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
When I was dating? Anybody?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
And now, okay, well, there's a movie called While You
Were Sleeping where Sandra Bullock basically convinces a guy that
they're dating while he's in a coma and wakes up
and he has no idea, right, he thinks that it's
like legit. I feel like we should do we should
do a movie while you were footballing, Because while we
were footballing over the weekend, the MS went to Saint
Louis won two out of three against the Cardinals and
(01:02):
find themselves three and a half games back in the Wildcard.
I mean we should be excited about this, right any
baseball team that's three and a half games out with
eighteen games left to go, you should feel like you
got a shot. But I don't feel like people really
give a damn, including you.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
No.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Steven Suza joining us right now courtesy ATTACKO time.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
How are you, man? What's going on?
Speaker 4 (01:23):
I'm doing great? Just a correction, there's still four and
a half out.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So, uh, they're three and a half out. They're three
and a half out in a wildcard. They're four and
a half games out in the West, gotcha?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay. You know it's uh.
I think it's just a demeanor you come to expect.
You know, there's no run with this team, and it's
the history has proven that. You know, eventually they're they're
gonna fall short just a little bit. And I think
that's why there's a lack of excitement within three and
a half games. You also have a couple of teams
(01:54):
you have to jump in the Boston Red Sox and
I think the Royals, and they've lost both of those
series throughout the year, so it still really is four
and a half because of the end up tying with
those guys, both of those teams get the advantage.
Speaker 5 (02:07):
Well, it seems to me that this year is different
because in order to come back from three and a
half in this short of time, I mean, you have
to be able to put together a run, right, I
mean you gotta go nine and one over a course
of ten games and just really get hot. And in
years past seven I felt hopeful that at least they
had an offense that was good enough that they could
(02:27):
get hot for ten days. I just don't think this
offense is capable of getting hot for ten days.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yeah, I think. You know, if you look at the
body of work, I would agree with you, and I
think that's what you're alluding to. You know, given the
correction from Edgar coming in, there has been some success
in the way that they've manufactured runs and kind of
strung multiple inning hits in good ads together. This is
probably the second or third time since Edgar's taking over
(02:56):
that you saw this kind of a bunch of singles
in a row, doubles move the guys around good at that,
and you know that's what you were kind of looking
for all year. These guys don't slug the ball at
the out of the park at a consistent basis. So
you know, I think if they can keep continue down
this track, they beat some good pitching in Saint Louis,
then you know they got a chance. I think they're
running into a buzz saw here with you know, Kumar
(03:17):
Raka is going to make his debut, He's unbelievable. I've
heard that Jacob deGrom is going to make his debut
this week, and I've heard that Mac Suresre's coming back
this week. So you're going to have your your you know,
your work cut out for you against the Rangers. And
you know, we know that they've really struggled against a
good pitching this year.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well nine to seven with Dan Wilson as the manager.
I mean, just doing the quick math, if the Astros
go ten to nine, the ms have to go fourteen
and four to catch him over the final eighteen and
one of those wins has got to be against the Astros,
by the way, so they can win the series.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
But the offense does look a little better.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I mean, obviously it might be way too little, way
too late. When it's all said and done, sixteen runs
against the Cardinals got shut out. I mean, let's face it, guys,
they should have swept Saint Louis because Logan go touched
his nuts off on Saturday night in Saint Louis and
got Jack Doody to show for it. So that's the frustration,
is that, my god, you win the series, but you
(04:09):
should have swept them. So what do you see in
Edgar Martinez doing? What's Dan Wilson doing to kind of
dumb this down and get this offense to look a
little better.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
You know, I think in the case of their record,
in the nine and seven record, they've lost a lot
of one run games that could have gone either way,
and that's kind of been the tail all year. And
you know, I don't know if you can really you know,
fault Dan for that part right there, but it just
seems like, you know, especially with Julio, you know, if
you watch him over the next couple of weeks, it
seems like his load is a little bit smaller. It's
(04:39):
a little bit more simple over approach, not trying to
crush the ball kind of you know, we talked really
early in the season. It's just that he was trying
to drive the ball out of the yard and overswinging
and late and those things compounding on top of each other.
But it seems like whatever you know verbiage that Edgar
is using, it's landing with the players and they're coming
up with confidence because this scored double digit runs on
(05:01):
this road trip multiple times. That was a rarity all
year long. And not only not only that, just winning
seven to four and different different types of ways to
win instead of just a three to two game. And
if they don't, if the team scores more than three,
they lose. So you know, like I said, they got
their work cut out for him down the stretch here.
But I'm definitely seeing some improvement out there.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Well. I, among others, have been screaming at the top
of my lungs all season to see Julia Rodriguez in
the leadoff spot, and it was nice to see him
go two for five there in his second game in
the leadoff spy yesterday. Did how long do you think
this experiment will last and how successful do you think
it'll be?
Speaker 4 (05:38):
I think it's a great choice. And this is where
I think Dan kind of brings some a different perspective
of being able to shift guys around the lineup. You
saw him kind of move up and down based on
who's swinging it. And look, I think JP's a professional hitter.
But when you're not going good and you're basically an
out of the top of the lineup, you can't just say, hey,
you're going to turn it around, like it's okay to
shift him down in the lineup and pick up somebody new.
(05:59):
And then the same point, get Julio going, because we've
seen him be really successful in that leadoff spot. So
as long as he's successful and you can you can
get him to you know, he's on eleven game hitting streak. Now,
if you can continue to roll like that, you leave
him there, don't move him at all unless a ros
arena and the rest of the guys kind of pick
up the sluck in the middle of the order the
best you can, because you just need him to be
(06:19):
on base, creating havoc scoring runs as much as you can.
If it's the leadof spot that's going to do it,
and so be it.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Well, you got twelve games until the Astro series. They
can find a way to be within three games, a
couple of games. I mean, I don't want to be
three and a half. I want to be three or less. Right,
that's it. By the time the Astro game Astro series
comes around, are you starting to see maybe a little
kink in the armor for Houston? They've kind of maybe
settled down just a little bit. Obviously, they've lost what
(06:48):
four of their last six games, and then here comes
a series against the A's followed by series against the
Angels for the Astros.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
So that fight five and one might doing some good.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
But are you seeing an Astro team cooling off one
that's about to get hot again?
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah? I mean they were on the road against a
good team in Kansas City, and I thought that they
took care of the Diamonbacks pretty good. They won two
out of three, and they obviously got swept in Cincinnati,
so that's not great. But they got an easy schedule too.
They got the A's, the Angels. You know, the Padres
are tough, but they got the Angels again and then
the Mariners, so it's not like they've got an uphill battle.
Come from the toughest part of their schedules kind of
(07:24):
over But they've been inconsistent two all years. So it's
not like they're running away from this thing. And that's
why I think everybody's kind of holding on for some
hope because you know, they should be twenty games over
five hundred. They're not, and the Mariners are you know,
should we keep getting buried but they're not getting buried,
So you know, there's it's gonna be a tough road.
They can't lose a series the rest of the way basically,
and at some point they're gonna have to sweep somebody.
(07:46):
And if they can do that, then you know what
we can we can start looking for a playoffs.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Well, if there's in my opinion, if there's any glimmer
at all, it's with the wild card because there's three wildcards. Now,
I wouldn't have any hope all of the wild cards.
There's only two. But you know, Minnesota is in the
third spot right now. Detroit and Seattle are tied in
the fourth spot three and a half games back. So
tell me how vulnerable you feel Minnesota and Detroit are
(08:15):
just sliding over the next three weeks.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Yeah, I mean Detroit can easily slide, right, They've they've
been very inconsistent all year long, and and I think
to to to think on them being good is tough.
You know, Minnesota is gonna be a tough one. They've
got a tougher schedule down the stretch. Right They've got
the Guardians for four, the Red Sox for three, and
(08:39):
the Orioles to finish out the year for three. And
that leaves an opportunity for the Mariners right there to
come in. And they've they've been really inconsistent with their
with their game the last couple weeks. You know, they
lost three, got swept by the Royals, lost two out
of four to the Rais, and they just haven't played
as good as they were early on the So look
(09:01):
at September. Baseball is all about getting hot at the
right moment, and if these guys are just kind of
stumbling it, it leaves again the gap for the Mariners.
So I like the chances that one of those teams
at least stumbled.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I'm trying to remember, have we spoken to you since
the news broke that Depoto was going to come back
next year?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
We have not?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Well, what do you think?
Speaker 4 (09:24):
Yeah, you know, it's it's an interesting take. It's I think,
you know, Ken Rosenthal wrote, an article over the week
about just the state of baseball and how ownership, you know,
is not often on the same page of competing as
the rest of the fan base. You know. I think
there's a disconnect between what the fans actually want to
(09:45):
see and want to happen and what ownership feels comfortable
doing over the last three years. And when you have
somebody like Jerry who's you know, done a decent job
in terms of building a farm system. It's that the
most players in the top one hundred, and it's done
a really good job of that, developed pitching and done
some things. Well, you know, there's no real need to
mix up the market for them. They've got fans in
(10:07):
the seat, you know. And and I don't know that
they really want to start over with this thing, because
I think if they do, they realize there's gonna be
some ticket sales that are lost in there. So holding
on for dear breath and and dear life and and
hopefully Jerry can turn it around and actually make the
moves and do something you know, productive in the winter,
because more of the same is going to drive these
(10:28):
fans nuts.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
Do you feel like ownership's primary goal is to win
a world series or do you think ownership's primary goal
is to stay competitive and make money.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
You know, I think I'm a big believer in action
speak louder than words, and you know, they haven't really
been good with their words in these pr in these
news conferences. But you can't convince me that signing guys
like Luis Urius and Mitch Garber, you know, or the
year for Tomula Stella and aj Pollock, you know, the
(11:02):
Diasker move was good. But you can't convince me that
those are world series investments, right, like going out to
get somebody and really going after a star. There's none
of that right trying to They're just constantly trying to
thread the needle. And so I believe Jerry's handcuffed at
some limits by what the ownership is presenting to him
(11:24):
that he can spend in the offseason. And so part
of this isn't Jerry's fault, but it's Stanton. But again,
Stanton is just a representation that a lot of the
owners around the league where they don't really care about winning.
They just want to make sure that they're building up
their net profit and what they're getting and hopefully cash
out later down the road, because you know, guys like
Cohen are the guys that are going for it, and
you can see that in their roster.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah, I mean, look, I'm glad you mentioned that because
in some small way you kind of feel bad for
Stanton because he's not even the majority guy. Yet he's
the guy that's trotting out there every time getting his
ass chewed out by the fan base of the media,
when the other guys are just sitting behind the scenes,
you know, like screw's a duck counting a big old
pile of money for God's sakes.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Man.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So I'm totally with you, all right, man, Steven, good stuff.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
We'll see where we are.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
In a week from now. Who knows, maybe they'll be
closer and we can start dreaming a little bit. Buddy,
appreciate this beout.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Yeah, there we go. Hopefully we got something talking about
next week.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
I can just sens fired up as iron man.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Well, is anybody out listen? Go ahead, listen, I'm about
as fired up as Mike McDonald calling that bootleg on
the first play on the one yard line and getting
a holding call in a safety. All right, that's about
fired up. By that next week, we.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Look at you with the football analysis.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I could come back and break down the Seahawk picture
game for us next week.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
For God's all right, let's do this.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
We'll we'll let you go and we're talking a week
and we'll see what's happening.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I appreciate this man.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Alright, guys, have a good one, all right.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Steven Susan.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
I will say you are the most optimistic fan and
have been for months than any other person that I know.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Well, let me ask you a question.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Uh, I want you to ask me if I think
the Mariners are gonna make the playoffs?
Speaker 3 (13:03):
You think they're No, you're not. Okay, no you're not.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
But I do think though that when you're three and
a half out, there's a glimmer of hope, right yeah,
maybe even more than a glimmer.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I mean, obviously, all this is context.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
If the Mariners had been struggling and then went on
this big run to get to this point here, and
oh my god, you wake up both three and a
half games out, people would feel a lot different.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
But and I get it. I get why you're off
the wagon.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I get why Jackson doesn't give a damn, and I
get why the fans will give a damn. I mean
I'm not you know, come on, guys, I mean, nobody
knows this fan base better than us.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Ten games up, you pissed that away.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You've lost fourteen and a half games and the standings
and the last two months like you shouldn't even be here.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
This thing should be over. We should be.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Talking about getting playoff tickets. We should be talking to
our buddies about who's gonna chip in for the first round,
who's gonna get the World Series tickets? We should you'll
be having a draft, you know, to decide who gets
to go to what game. All of us should be
thinking about taking time off in October to watch playoff baseball.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I totally understand it, but I just think that there should.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Be at least a little bit of attention paid to
this baseball team as long as they're within striking distance
of a playoff spot, where eighteen games left to go,
and maybe the little bit of attention that we pay
to him is what we just did. I can talk
football the rest of the week, and we should.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
Can I just provide context whatever to the three and
a half games Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Hey, I just told you they gotta go fourteen and
four If the astro is good ten to nine.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
I get it.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
I just wanted to look up exactly where we were
Visa VI Minnesota. Yes, right now the standings say three
and a half, we're actually four back in the lost
caller and we've lost the tiebreaker with Minnesota already, so
you have to outplay them by five games, which is
basically where we are with Houston. So the advantage that
I thought we had in the wild card over the division,
(14:48):
we actually don't have in the wild Card.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I think it's and I mean this with love, Okay, yes,
I mean this with love. I think it's a little
bit of captain obvious by people who say they're done
because of exactly the point you just made. They have
a huge mountain to climb. Like I just said, they
gotta go fourth. That that that's with Houston going ten
and nine. If Houston puts together like an eleven and eight,
then forget that said they gotta go fifteen and three.
(15:13):
I mean, it's a massive, massive mountain to climb. But
like I said, if I would have told you back
in March that we're gonna wake up on September of
the ninth and the M's are gonna be three and
a half games out in the wild card, four and
a half games out in the division, you would have said,
all right, maybe they got a bit of a shot
to do some damage and maybe sneak in and get there.
(15:34):
But they obviously, people have just lost faith in these guys.
They're tired of them, they're bothered by them. I told
you guys in our staff meeting this morning, it's almost
like people just want them to die so they can
watch football and not be bothered by them.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Because because I know what they're gonna do, they're gonna
fall short.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
I get that. I totally get to the fact they're
gonna fall short. But is there any room for something
crazy happens? The Astros fall up part. The Ems just
have two weeks of one hundred and sixty two game
season where they go on a run, and that runs enough.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
Well, I think it's just because they've been an unentertaining
product or all season long. Now, if this was a
team that had the exact same record as the Mariners do,
now what a weak seventy seven.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Seventy three and seventy seventy three and seventy one.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Alright, let's say they had the exact same record seventy
three seventy one, but they were like tenth in offense
in baseball and like twentieth in pitching, and they always
played seven to six games, and they had maybe stretches
of five six game losing streaks, but they also had
three or four winning streaks of like seven or eight
games this season. And they played really fun, entertaining baseball.
But we're still this much back. I'd be like, you
(16:40):
know what, right, I could tell my head and see
this team getting hot because they've gotten hot four or
five times this year.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
They haven't gotten hot four or five times this year.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Let's get a break, Will Rodgers from you up, We're
gonna join us next curtisy them out like future as recap,
but win over Eastern Michigan and talk about the Apple Cup.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Baby, how about that?
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It's Apple Cup Week right here on ninety three three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Coming to you live from your home for a Husky football.
This is our weekly conversation with you Dub quarterback Will Rogers,
brought to you by Muttlake Futures, empowering University of Washington
student athletes by leveraging name, image and likeness for a
positive community impact. Visit Muttlake Futures dot com today to
find out how you can donate. Now with Will Rogers,
(17:23):
here's SOFTI and dig ball.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
The forty one yard line. Rogers goes out of the
shot and takes a stand. Wants to take a shot
off the right. Sign to the rap, tie it up
the right sign. He get it again. Tell it's to
the pound, waiting for the signal.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Two years off touchdown Washington, forty one beautiful yards after
Rogers out of the gun too by one formation and
it's going to throw to the Anzel Cock.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Tenzel Boston touchdown.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Split Dependers won a ball from Eil Rogers and Tenzil
Boston holds onto it, his second touchdown reception of the year.
All right, we are back at the Ebroo Quake Casino,
and if anybody is sitting around, im going, how come
you guys are playing George Straight? Well, because we asked
Will hey Man, favorite band, favorite singer, you pick the bumper,
(18:08):
You picked the Red Joe, and he said, George Straight,
I'm starting to think though we might need something.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
A little more upbeat, a little more faster paced. Straight's awesome. Well,
of course he's awesome, but we can't do this every week.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Man, Well, second favorite singer, second favorite band besides George Straight,
give it to me.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Ah, that's a sow for one. I'm not huner, sure,
I'm big on uh big on Cody Johnson some of
those other guys, but George Strait's definitely my number one.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Done done, all right, I'll tell you what. You keep winning,
we keep paying, we keep doing George Straight. We won't
change it. As long as things are going good on
the field. Well, will Rogers back with us quarterback for you,
dub and man, all kinds of plays to point two
from that game on Saturday, you were twenty one to
twenty six, two sixty one, four touchdowns. Let's start, though,
with that fourth and one pass to Jiles Jackson from
(18:59):
the thirty yard line, because Jed Fish said today you
could not have started a game looking like the Bad
News bears more and could not have ended it looking
better than before and after that fourth and one throw
to Jiles Jackson. So tell us about that decision and
why that kind of got you guys going you think
a little bit Saturday?
Speaker 6 (19:21):
Yeah, I don't know. We haven't really kind of figured
it out. While we're starting slow or anything like that yet,
but it's definitely something that we have to fix. And
you know, I think this coming week of practice, I
think we're all excited for that. But the play was great.
I mean obviously kind of kickstarted us. And you know,
once Giles made that play and we converted the fourth
and one, it really got us go on the rest
of the day.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Tell us about the what the level of frustration was
in the huddle on the sidelines prior to that play,
and then what did it do emotionally after that play.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
I mean, I wouldn't say anybody was necessarily just overly frustrated.
You know, people just realizing that, you know, there's a
standard that we want to play too as an offense,
and you know, we weren't living up to that standard,
and you know, part of that's on me and part
of that's on some other guys. But you know, we
just have to we have to learn from it and
you know, just be better moving forward. But I thought,
(20:15):
obviously after John's made that play, it really it really
kick started us. And you know, I think we scored
on like the next six possessions or something like that,
So it was good.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, I got you for three touchdowns on twelve plays,
by the way after that play, so you guys really
really came alive, including the touchdown of the very next
play to Decker de grafh I mean, I don't know
how many people had Decker de Graph on their Bingo
card for being the best tight end after a couple
of weeks. Obviously, Quinton Moore is down and likely will
not play again Saturday in the Apple Cup. But give
us kind of your thoughts on your relationship and your
(20:46):
chemistry with Decor de Graph right now.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Man.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
I mean it's great. I mean we we kind of
got here at the same time. I think we got
here the same day through the I mean I was
coming through the transfer portal and he was coming out
of hospital. But he's just a guy that's worked hard
every single day. He doesn't he doesn't say a whole lot.
He doesn't, you know, talk a whole lot in the
locker room and things like that when he works hard.
I mean that what specific play is one that we
(21:12):
had drawn up all week, and he and I had
worked at you know, for about fifteen thirty minutes after
practice on Tuesday. So he's an extremely hard worker and
it's really cool just to see a freshman having the success.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
Is this a recent chemistry you've developed with him or
did you really have it all through fall camp.
Speaker 6 (21:33):
I wouldn't say like he and I are just like
you know, Batman or Robin or anything like that. But
I think it's just because he's he's worked hard and
he's you know, taking coaching, and he's gotten better every
single day, you know. So I think if he could
just continue to grow, continue to you know, work hard
in the weight room, work hard on the practice field,
(21:54):
you know, this guy's the limit for him in the future.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Well, Will Rogers again is with us ued up starting quarterback?
Be with us every Monday, courtesy of our friends at
at Montlake Futures. The touchdown did Jeremiah Hunter uh nine
to fifty seven to go third quarter?
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Made it twenty seven to six.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
I mean he was wide open, man, and you dropped
it right in there on a dime. Tell me about
that play and uh and why you were able to
this Saturday get him involved in the offense, you think, yeah,
I mean we.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
Obviously wanted to get him early, you know, had uh.
I thought he had a great uh great catch. I
think it was the first play coming out of halftime.
Uh so he had a great catch there for him
to just be able to top it off with the touchdown.
I thought it was a great route, kind kind of
got the coverage, kind of got the look we wanted in,
(22:43):
a great job by the offensive line, and we made
it happen.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
And you just talk about your overall sharpness in your
accuracy from week one to week two, it looked like
in week one there were just a few balls that
were just not quite I could tell what you're used
to throwing. And then I saw almost nothing that was
an accurate this last week. So where did that extra
sharpness come from this week versus last week?
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Probably just remps. I mean being back in the game
of you know, the flow of the game of a
real game on Saturday, not just being out there practicing
against our defense and fall count. So I mean probably
just being in the game like scenarios, and you know,
hopefully I could continue to get better weekend and week out.
So that's the challenge is to keep getting better every
(23:29):
single week and you know, be at your best come
the end of the season. So that's what we look
forward to this week is just a great week of practice.
Great week of preparation. But you know, we're big that
everything starts on the practice for us, so looking forward
to it.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
All?
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Right, Well, well will rogers with us? So what what?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
What does a kid who grew up in Mississippi know
about the Apple Cup?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Right?
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Give us, give us the depth of your Apple Cup history, man.
Speaker 6 (23:57):
I mean, I'm obviously familiar with it because of my
relationship with Gardner Minshew and then obviously my relationship with
Coach Leach and some of the staff that came with
him from Washington State. So I'm familiar with it. But
you know, I'm a I've I've also played in other
rivalry games and know how that goes and things like that.
And the biggest thing is, you know, you just have to,
(24:19):
you know, stay the course, take it one play at
a time. I don't want to say it's just another game,
because it's not just another game, but you have to,
you know, just take that mindset, take it one play
at the time, and just try and do your job
every single play.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Is it a disadvantage that you have so many guys
on this team right now that have never played in
this game, really don't know anything about this game?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Because the Cougars do.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
And the Cougars, as you know, lost on the last
second field goal last week or last year in this game,
and they've got a lot of guys that are still
stung from that.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
I don't know, I really don't know how.
Speaker 6 (24:54):
To answer that. I guess we'll see come Saturday at
twelve thirty. But the biggest thing for us, man is
I can't I can't say it enough. We just have
to have a great week of practice, great week of preparation.
You know, take it one day, one day at a time.
You know, we're not gonna beat Washington State, you know
on a Monday or Tuesday. You know, we just have
to prepare each every single day and just get better
(25:15):
as the week goes home.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
What are you improving at the most you think in
just the last couple of weeks, What area of the offense,
passing game, whatever? Do you think you guys have made
the biggest jump in progress?
Speaker 5 (25:25):
And you think.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
I mean, obviously we were able to hit some more
down the field shots this past game, so that's good.
But I think, you know, just being sharp every single week.
You know, it's a challenge, man. You know, it's one
thing to be able to do it, you know, one
or two weeks. But the challenge is is can you
you know, can you stack you know, four or five, six,
seven games in a row where you're playing well at
a high level on offense. So, I mean that's just
(25:49):
the biggest thing for us is we're all just trying
to get better, you know, myself, the receivers, the offensive line,
the running backs, everybody's trying to get better week in
and week out. Yeah, So that's just the big sean
for us.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
I'm looking here at the college football team yards per
rushing attempt. The Washington Huskies are third in America at
seven point four yards per attempt. So are you do
you feel less pressure out there from the defensive front
because the run game has been so good? What does
Joan and those rest of those guys do for you
(26:23):
as a passer?
Speaker 6 (26:27):
No, I mean it definitely helps me out a lot,
you know, the more that they can you know, pop
long runs and make make the draft shorter and.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
Things like that.
Speaker 6 (26:36):
I can't remember. It was maybe the second second touchdown
scoring drive where Jonah had the long run before and
really put us in position. So I mean, anytime he
can do that in the offensive line, you know, create
holes for him and the rest of the backs. Yeah,
it makes my job a lot easier for sure.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Well, Will, before you go, Will Rogers with us, do
you feel like you're starting to settle down with the
offensive line and find five guys that you can roll
with Saturday for the Apple Cup or do you expect
maybe some more shifting, some more tinkering to go on
during the game on Saturday.
Speaker 6 (27:10):
Oh, that's that's probably a question for coach BC or
coach Fish, you know. I mean, man, I can't I
can't say it enough. We just have to have a
great week of practice, and that starts with myself, that
starts with the offensive line and you know, the whole
the whole offense as a whole. So we have to
really be locked in and just have a great week
of practice, great week of preparation because we have the
(27:32):
utmost respect for Washington State.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
So yeah, yeah, looking.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Forward to it, looking forward to a great week of practice,
and hope to see all the Husky fans out come Saturday.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Well, I asked Fish the same question he said to
ask you today, So just just just just text me.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Off the air of the answer.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I won't tell anybody all right, I promise I'll keep
it between what between us? All right, Pal, Will Rogers
with us on the show. Hey, great to hear your voice.
Best of luck in the Apple Cup on Saturday, and
we'll talk soon.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Man, appreciate anybody.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
You bet, you bet.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Will Rogers with us on the air Apple Cup this weekend.
Just got a text from Richard old Baird who made
a great point. This will be on Saturday afternoon the
first time in Apple Cup history that both teams are undefeated.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
How about that?
Speaker 5 (28:18):
I thought you're gonna say, is the first time it
was played, not in November, in like one hundred years.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
I ever thought you'd see it, two undefeated teams in
the Apple Cup. I've been waiting our entire lives for
this moment. On Saturday at twelve thirty, textimonials. Next Monday
Night Football Niners Jets pregame at five with Kevin Harlan
right here on ninety three three kJ ARFN
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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