Academic All-Big Ten Badgers

Let's step away from the field for a moment and give credit to to the Badger football players who earned academic All-Big Ten honors:

Zach Brown, Gabe Carimi, Nate Emanuel, Bradie Ewing, Antonio Fenelus, Matthew Groff, Will Hartmann, Jordan Hein, Aaron Henry, Tyler Holland, Peter Konz, Andrew Lukasko, Prince Moody, Brad Nortman, Chukwuma Offor, Curt Phillips, Devin Smith, Blake Sorensen, Scott Tolzien, Mickey Turner, J.J. Watt, Drew Woodward.

That's eight starters, five key reserves, and a smattering of special teams contributors. Nice work in the classroom, fellas!

Player development

In the wake of the disappointing 2008 football season, I wrote that perhaps the most alarming trend in the UW program under Bret Bielema's stewardship was the lack of player development. After all, it is likely that our recruiting efforts will always yield more two- and three-star players than four- and five-star, so if we're going to compete in the Big Ten we need to coach our kids up.

With four regular season games and a bowl left this season, it is not premature to say that a number of Badgers have shown significant improvement this season. Two stick out in my mind, one on offense, one on defense.

O'Brien Schofield: Something of an afterthought in a linebacker class that included Travis Beckum, Elijah Hodge and DeAndre Levy, he became a serviceable defensive end, then the best defensive end in the Big Ten. Also the team's vocal and emotional leader. Other guys like Mike Taylor, J.J. Watt, Chris Maragos and Chris Borland have made big plays this season, but Schofield has lived in opponents' backfields from the first defensive possession of the season, and gave hope that a unit that figured to be a weakness might be an asset.

Scott Tolzien: He's regressed a little against better defenses, but his play this year has been a definite upgrade over what we had last year. With lesser quarterback play, we're probably 4-4 at best this season, maybe worse. What's interesting is that Tolzien wasn't ready to play extensively last year, when Dustin Sherer and Allan Evridge disappointed. What happened for Tolzien this offseason? Better coaching? Or did the proverbial light bulb just go on?

What other Badgers have been two-star recruits, per Scout?

Going back to that class of 2005, Jonathan Casillas and P.J. Hill were both two-star recruits who are now on NFL rosters. Jae McFadden and Jeff Stehle were two-star recruits who are starting on a pretty good front seven. Garrett Graham was another two-star guy from that class, but it's hard to say he has developed in his time here since he was pretty good from the minute he started playing. The recruiting experts just missed on that one.

In the class of 2006, Gabe Carimi was a two-star recruit, and he's a future NFL left tackle. Mickey Turner, Isaac Anderson, John Moffitt, Jay Valai, Maurice Moore, Culmer St. Jean -- all two-star guys who have become big contributors to a team that has a chance to win 10 games.

A number of two-star guys who are contributing in their first and second years: Brad Nortman, Antonio Fenelus, Travis Frederick and Borland. That doesn't count Maragos, a walk-on.

Going through the lists, there aren't many guys who stick out like Schofield and Tolzien, who toiled in obscurity for several years before emerging as team leaders. The rest of these guys have just improved enough to play important roles on an above-average team. And that, not statistics or individual honors, is really the only way we will be able to gauge player development under Bielema: wins and losses.

Wisconsin-Iowa thoughts

Today's proceedings at Camp Randall have left me feeling livid. Livid!

This is the first time this year that I have been truly disappointed in this team, and in this program. Because make no mistake about it: the results of today's game prove that Iowa has a program far superior to ours.

Not superior players, mind you. Their offensive skill position players are pedestrian at best, ours are more talented. Their quarterback still doesn't impress me -- he just threw the ball to wide-open players. They have a good defense, but as we showed in the first half, it's not impossible to move the ball on them.

And yet ... they dominated the second half today and go home winners. Their players' execution was nearly flawless. More importantly, the scheme adjustments they made at halftime were far better than anything we did.

Think about it: in the first half, we were running the ball for 5-7 yards a pop. There were big holes. On passing plays, we had guys open, and Scott Tolzien found them.

In the second half, with basically the same guys on the field (forget Garrett Graham's injury -- while he's obviously an important part of our offense, the results would have been the same with him) we created no holes, our receivers were double covered, and Tolzien threw it to the guys in white jerseys.

Defensively we were no less disappointing. For all the raves about Moeaki, definitely a good player, if Antonio Fenelus can't run with a tight end, we've got problems. Their running back will probably win praise, but he got his yards when our defense lost its focus and composure.

And when the defense did make a big play to give the offense a chance to score without actually moving the ball, Philip Welch shanks the kick right. We've gone from field goal kicking seeming like a definite strength at the season's beginning to being an uncertainty at best, a liability at worst.

Near the end of the game, when they were having their way with us, this thought occurred to me: It's like we weren't even on the field in the second half. Iowa did whatever they wanted.

Every time the cameras cut to Kirk Ferentz on the sideline, so calm and in control, I thought, "Man, I wish that guy was our coach, and his staff our staff." It's not the first time I've thought that way. But this year, when the Big Ten is truly up for grabs, if we had superior leadership like Iowa we could be pricing plane tickets for Pasadena now. Instead we're looking at what, San Antonio? No shame in that, but in years where the traditional Big Ten powers show vulnerability, we've got to be ready to take advantage. This year, we're not quite there.

Remember what I wrote at halftime?

"While I'm happy with the proceedings thus far, I also remember Barry Alvarez's last game in 2005, when we were up by a similar score at halftime and got dominated by Iowa in the second half. They make good halftime adjustments. Let's hope our coaches can do the same."

Unfortunately, today was a carbon copy of 2005. That loss left me feeling similarly upset and disappointed. But that year, we rebounded to beat Hawaii and then Auburn in a bowl, definitely a great ending to what ended up being a very nice season. Purdue is looking better than I figured, we'll have to bring it in two weeks. Let's hope our players and coaches take the week off to figure out how to be more like Iowa.

Wisconsin-Ohio State halftime thoughts

Pretty frustrating to have completely outplayed Ohio State in the first half but be losing. Our defense dominates, then goes into its sieve mode, one half early. We're 2-1 on time of possession, which is great. We're still in it, and should have plenty of chances to pull this one out.

-Last year against these guys our first defensive possession was about as bad as it gets. This year, completely opposite, set the tone for the rest of the half. Pryor has not looked good at all, but his running ability really bails him out.

-O'Brien Schofield has made some nice pass rush moves, including a great inside move to draw a hold.

-Let's just run that end around to David Gilreath every play, it works. He's not expending any energy returning punts.

-Antonio Fenelus has played pretty well so far in coverage and on special teams. Aaron Henry had a really nice possession midway through, hopefully that'll push him on to more consistent play.

-John Moffitt struggled early, giving up a sack and blocking nobody in space on a screen. Is guard really his best position?

-Culmer St. Jean made a great drop and showed great hands on that pick. Conversely, that play showed just how medicore Pryor is as a passer, terrible read and pass.

-Even if Chris Maragos doesn't score on the fake field goal, I still like the call -- playing to win and not to lose against a favored team in an intimidating environment. We ran a successful fake punt last time we played in Columbus. I didn't think Maragos had the speed to turn the corner, and thought his right foot might have been out short of the first down, but it all turned out well.

-John Clay's lean is a yard or two less than it was last week against much better defenders, but I'm okay with how he's run so far. He does seem to be wrapping the ball with two hands quicker than usual, which limits his mobility.

-Too bad Garrett Graham got called for holding (it's happened recently, right? and another one on the first possession of the second half!), wiped out a nice run by Montee Ball, very well blocked by the left side of the line.

-That field goal by Philip Welch was't a gimme, very important. He almost made another 57-yarder at the end there. He seems to have overcome his early season yips.

-Scott Tolzien isn't playing all that well, although like with Clay, the opposition has a lot to do with it. I liked the move to have him roll out, that should help him buy time, rather than subjecting him to the OSU pass rush that clearly has an advantage on our line.

Keep running the ball and we'll have a shot. Let's see what happens.

Wisconsin-Fresno State box score

Sifting through the box score from the Fresno game, some random thoughts:

-Lost the time of possession battle again, by a lot -- seven minutes. In the fourth quarter, Fresno had the ball for more than 13 minutes! Of course, Clay's long touchdown run and our last drive before Fresno's tying field goal made for two short possessions. Next week I'd like to see us really pound the rock and put together some long, sustained drives against Wofford.

-Fresno converted 11-of-18 third down tries. Unlike last week, though, we seemed to get better later in this game. There were a couple times when, at least judging by the yellow line on the TV broadcast, it appeared Fresno got very favorable spots.

-I did notice this as it happened, but did you see Erik Smith carried the ball once for a loss of four yards? If I recall the announcers attributed the run to John Clay. Wonder what prompted Smith's insertion in that situation, rather than sticking to the Clay-Zach Brown tandem.

-Didn't talk about it yesterday, but how big was Isaac Anderson's long catch at the end of the first half that set up Philip Welch's long field goal? That was a really nice play, and a gutsy call by Paul Chryst -- the kind Badger fans would probably like to see more of at the end of halves.

-Also meant to make note of the really nice catch Mickey Turner made early in the second half. It was a low throw, he seemed to use his fingertips.

-Chris Borland is just so athletic, isn't he? It ended up being a nothing play, but on the last kickoff of regulation, he jumped up and nabbed the kickoff over his head. Didn't look like a typical linebacker's hands. Sure, he should have let David Gilreath catch the ball, or should have lateraled it to him, but it showed the explosiveness and skill the true freshman brings to the table. He also made a great play to down a punt at the 1-yard-line.

-O'Brien Schofield had four tackles for loss and led the team with 11 tackles. How often do you see a defensive end lead a team in tackles? Like I said yesterday, love what he's done thus far.

-Jae McFadden just continues to rack up tackles, 10 yesterday, including a sack.

-Niles Brinkley, nice to see you again! With the emergence of Devin Smith and Antonio Fenelus, Brinkley seemed to get lost in the cornerback shuffle, and while his play was certainly not flawless, his pick was really important for momentum. Fenelus had a pick, too, but the corners' play overall was not strong. They did, however, show much improvement in the second half.

-Hypothetical question: Would Shane Carter or Aubrey Pleasant have made a significant difference in the pass defense against Fresno? Sounds like there's no way they're coming back, too bad.

-Wofford got killed by South Florida in its opener, although it sounds like the game was closer than the 33-point margin. Wofford ran the ball 50 times, threw it 11. Fared much better against Charleston Southern. Should be interesting to see how we cope with the option.

Wisconsin-Fresno State halftime thoughts

First thought is that I'm grateful we're only down four points at halftime. It seems much, much worse than that.

If you're Fresno, why wouldn't you throw the ball every single play? Even if your quarterback is throwing jump balls straight up in the air, there's a 50-50 chance there won't be a Badger within five yards. Then again, we're not tackling all that well on running plays, so pick your poison.

Not much to be encouraged about here.

-Chris Borland showed nice athleticism early, he's a keeper. Blake Sorensen made a nice play behind the line of scrimmage. O'Brien Schofield's been active again.

-And that's about it for kind words about our defense. Devin Smith just got flat toasted by Wylie on that touchdown. Antonio Fenelus bit hard on a mediocre move on Fresno's third touchdown. That followed marshmallow-soft coverage on the first drive.

-Thank God Philip Welch finally made a field goal. My initial thought was lining him up for a 55-yarder that he'd probably miss would hurt his confidence even further, but maybe this will get him going in the right direction.

-Bob Griese sounds drunk. Maybe just old. Twice he talked about Chris Maragos being here for five years. Crack open a media guide, Grease. Also, Dave Pasch, didn't realize Travis Beckum left early for the NFL.

-Liked how Chris Spielman pointed out the excellent blocking on our two touchdown runs. On Zach Brown's, Lance Kendricks, Kevin Zeitler, and Kyle Jefferson executed well. On David Gilreath's end around, Garrett Graham blocked two guys on the same play. Well done.

-On the other hand, it's concerning that thus far this season the only success we've had running the ball has come wide outside the tackles. Again, some of this is probably attributable to Bill Nagy and John Moffitt being out, and Jake Bscherer being new. But it's troubling nonetheless, and has to improve.

-Scott Tolzien's passes thus far have not appeared tight. Passing game has been OK, though.

-Kevin Claxton has a block in the back on a punt that is not fielded. Delay of game coming out of a change of possession. (Another one preceding the first play of the second half!) Ugh.

Please, Badgers, pull out this win because I really, REALLY don't want to hear any more about what a bad-ass Pat "Anyone, Anywhere" Hill is. It's really getting on my nerves.

Wisconsin-Northern Illinois halftime thoughts

By my reckoning, the Badgers should be up 21-3 right now, not 14-6. As much as I've been pleased with the play in general, the same sloppiness that killed us last year crept into our first half play.

-Jae McFadden's stupid, stupid facemask gives Northern three points.

-Travis Frederick's hold on a nice Zach Brown run kills a drive that seemed headed for the end zone.

Mistakes happen, but we don't have the overwhelming talent or veteran savvy that allows us to shrug it off easily.

Other thoughts:

-Rascal Flatts for the Big Ten Network's theme song? Check the demographics, BTN, not a good call.

-No windbreaker for Bielema? Did he ditch thtat last year?

-Needless to say, nice way for Scott Tolzien to begin his first game as a starter. It helped that Isaac Anderson was so wide open Allan Evridge could have hit him. Tolzien has played pretty well so far. Anderson and Garrett Graham getting so open helps.

-On Anderson's reverse touchdown, Gabe Carimi got out on the perimeter and created enough interference to let Ike find the end zone. Shades of Joe Thomas.

-Like the depth on Philip Welch's kickoffs thus far, reaching the end zone consistently.

-On defense, J.J. Watt and O'Brien Schofield are playing very well. Watt is Matt Shaughnessy's height, but with more bulk and seemingly more quickness. He's behind the line of scrimmage a lot. Schofield, too, and he's lining up without a hand on the ground. Also seen him dropping back into coverage on what appear to be zone blitzes.

-Seems like we're blitzing a lot, which I like. Our defense is probably going to give up some big plays this year -- why not blitz and try to increase the odds of us turning big plays? Blake Sorensen has made more plays in the first half than he has in his career thus far, it seems he may have found a role as a blitzer.

-Mike Taylor is living up to the hype earlier. Tackle for loss, and the strip/fumble recovery was beautiful. As the announcers pointed out, it came after he made a sound tackle. Hope the injury he suffered isn't serious.

-Couple rough patches for Aaron Henry. He really blew a tackle on Northern's one big play of the half, and his interference penalty was blatant. Hope it doesn't mess with him mentally.

-Always love to see the new kids out there. Chris Borland has been in a lot, as have Antonio fenelus and Anthony Mains.

-See that block Nick Toon threw on that Northern defender? He blew him up! Love it when our receivers contribute as blockers.

We should be in fine shape here, but we also should have stepped on their throats by now.

Badgers are Champs, after all

So the bowl destination is ... Florida. Again. It beats Christmas in Madison, but I was sort of hoping for Pasadena or New Orleans or Phoenix or Miami. Oh well.

The Champs Sports Bowl it is, set for December 27 against Florida State. My thoughts:

-Love the opponent. Florida State is a brand name in college football, and was arguably the top program of the 1990s. As a kid I was enamored with their uniforms, the mascot, the Tomahawk Chop that Braves fans stole from FSU fans.

What I also love is that they are eminently beatable nowadays. The Seminoles lately have been a shadow of what they were in the '90s, for a variety of reasons. A decline in offensive coaching. The resurgence of in-state rivals Florida and Miami. Off-the-field problems.

Can't say I paid close attention to this year's team, but looking at their results their four losses are respectable: Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Florida.

Their quarterback, Christian Ponder, has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns and has been sacked 17 times, but has run for more than 400 yards. Antone Smith, their leading rusher, is a well-regarded running back. Wide receivers Greg Carr and Preston Parker are also highly thought of, even if neither has more than 40 catches or 500 yards receiving.

-I want to learn more about this Myron Rolle kid. If you've been paying attention, he's the guy who recently was named a Rhodes Scholar, interviewing for it on the day of a game, then flying in to join the team while the game was underway. Great story.

When my brother, dad, and I were hearing about this a couple weeks ago, our shared reaction was "He was a potential Rhodes Scholar and he went to ... Florida State?" Surely Stanford, Northwestern, Vanderbilt could have challenged him more academically. Whatever, good for FSU and good for Rolle.

-Rolle and his teammates had the 13th-best defense in the country this year, yardage-wise. That D is going to be a tough test for the Badger offense, lot of athletes and well-coached.

-As much as Orlando is starting to seem repetitive, and the trip might be a tough sell to Badger fans, going to Florida for the fifth straight year is a good thing. It's a state that Bret Bielema has made a recruiting priority, and we're doing pretty well there lately. Zach Brown. Aaron Henry. Jae McFadden. Elijah Hodge. Eriks Briedis. Anthony Mains. Kevin Claxton. Antonio Fenelus. Xavier Harris. Josh Nettles. Recruits David Gilbert and Conor O'Neill. (Florida State was also reportedly in the mix for O'Neill.)

Florida is an important state for us, and the more we're there, the better. Even if our fans aren't showing up in the usual numbers, you can bet that the family and friends of all those guys above will be in Orlando, and might even bring along some other promising young athletes.

-Even though this trip will be a tough sell, I'm hoping the opponent will be attractive enough to entice Badger fans to make the trip. (Disclosure: I won't be going.)

-This is our seventh straight bowl appearance, the second-longest in the Big Ten behind Ohio State. That's nice.

-Finally, this will be a battle of maligned coaches with the the initials B.B. If we think what Bielema has been going through this year is tough, imagine what it's been like for Bobby Bowden. He's presided over the slow decline of his program while enduring constant talk that he's too old, the game has passed him by. Sort of like Joe Paterno up in our conference.

My take on it is that Bowden really isn't that far off from having his program great again. He still hasn't recovered from Mark Richt leaving for Georgia (or too an extent from Chuck D'Amato leaving for North Carolina State), and putting his boy in charge of the offense didn't go that well. The other part of the downfall, off-field troubles, probably come from taking chances on kids of questionable character in an attempt to keep up with Florida and Miami. Or a run of bad luck. Iron those two things out and Florida State is not far from being golden again.

Hopefully it doesn't start with a win over Wisconsin.

Breaking down the depth chart

Bret Bielema announced the Badgers' opening day depth chart last week, and here's what it looks like. Not many surprises, but a few things I feel compelled to comment on.

Offense
Quarterback
4 Allan Evridge, 6-2, 212, Sr.
18 Dustin Sherer, 6-4, 213, Jr.

Again, feeling strangely confident in Evridge. What might hold him back is not his performance, but the inexperience of his receiving corps, although we have arguably the best group of tight ends in the country.

Tailback
39 P.J. Hill, 5-11, 236, Jr.
30 Zach Brown, 5-11, 207, So.

Is John Clay #3, or is Bradie Ewing? I really hope it doesn't matter.

Fullback
44 Chris Pressley, 6-1, 259, Sr.
34 Bill Rentmeester, 6-1, 248, Sr.

Sounds like Pressley's going to miss the opener with a broken finger. Doesn't matter much, as long as we can run out of two-tight end sets, as I think we can.

Wide Receiver
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
1 Nick Toon, 6-3, 214, Fr. OR
13 Daven Jones, 6-1, 200, So.

Wide Receiver
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So. OR
7 Kyle Jefferson, 6-5, 175, So.
6 Issac Anderson, 5-11, 176, So.

Right now, this looks like the weakest group of Badger wide receivers since 2002, when Lee Evans' injury forced Jonathan Orr, Brandon Williams and Darrin Charles into prominent roles prematurely. Then again, two years ago I might have said the same thing about Luke Swan and Paul Hubbard. If Jefferson becomes the big-play guy he can be, and Gilreath becomes the slippery underneath guy a la Williams, they'll be fine.

H-Back
9 Travis Beckum, 6-4, 235, Sr.
84 Lance Kendricks, 6-4, 227, So.

Tight End
89 Garrett Graham, 6-4, 237, Jr.
36 Mickey Turner, 6-4, 252, Jr.

Really like what this group can do.

Left Tackle
68 Gabe Carimi, 6-8, 301, So.
78 Jake Bscherer, 6-7, 294, Jr.

Left Guard
75 Andy Kemp, 6-6, 315, Sr.
60 Jake Current, 6-4, 278, Fr. OR
66 Peter Konz, 6-6, 300, Fr.

Center
74 John Moffitt, 6-4, 323, So.
76 Bill Nagy, 6-4, 300, So.

Right Guard
63 Kraig Urbik, 6-6, 332, Sr.
70 Kevin Zeitler, 6-4, 285, Fr.

Right Tackle
71 Eric Vanden Heuvel, 6-7, 324, Sr.
67 Josh Oglesby, 6-7, 328, Fr.

Three true freshmen on the two-deep, as well as a redshirt freshman in Oglesby. I don't see a big drop-off in the line next season.

Defense
Left End
50 O’Brien Schofield, 6-3, 232, Jr.
45 Dan Moore, 6-2, 280, Jr. OR
97 Brendan Kelly, 6-6, 230, Fr.

Left Tackle
91 Jason Chapman, 6-4, 285, Sr.
95 Patrick Butrym, 6-4, 264, Fr.

Right Tackle
54 Mike Newkirk, 6-3, 264, Sr.
79 Jeff Stehle, 6-6, 290, Jr.

Right End
92 Matt Shaughnessy, 6-6, 253, Sr.
99 Kirk DeCremer, 6-5, 230, So. OR
93 Louis Nzegwu, 6-3, 228, Fr.

Sam Linebacker
11 DeAndre Levy, 6-3, 228, Sr.
42 Erik Prather, 6-3, 227, Jr.

Mike Linebacker
47 Jaevery McFadden, 6-3, 220, Jr.
15 Culmer St. Jean, 6-1, 228, So.

Elijah Hodge isn't even on the two-deep. After his brother's outstanding career at Iowa, he was one recruit I was really excited to get, second only to Beckum in that recruiting class. But he couldn't beat out St. Jean, who was no world beater last year, and McFadden, who doesn't appear to be the second coming of Mike Singletary. Hopefully he can still pull it together and contribute in his last two seasons.

Will Linebacker
2 Jonathan Casillas, 6-2, 226, Sr.
27 Blake Sorensen, 6-1, 217, So.

Sounds like Casillas won't play against Akron, and I would bet he's not on the field much against Marshall. We're going to need him against Fresno, though.

Left Cornerback
23 Mario Goins, 6-1, 186, Fr.
7 Aaron Henry, 6-0, 191, So. OR
26 Antonio Fenelus, 5-10, 175, Fr.

Interesting to see Fenelus's name here, didn't count on him being in the mix so early in his career. I like Goins' size.

Strong Safety
12 Jay Valai, 5-9, 197, So.
8 Aubrey Pleasant, 6-1, 198, Jr.

Free Safety
25 Shane Carter, 6-2, 202, Jr.
21 Chris Maragos, 6-0, 189, Jr.

Right Cornerback
17 Allen Langford, 5-11, 189, Sr. OR
29 Niles Brinkley, 5-10, 177, So.

Special Teams
Punter
98 Brad Nortman, 6-3, 215, Fr.

Placekicker
96 Matt Fischer, 5-11, 179, Jr. OR
18 Philip Welch, 6-3, 190, Fr.

Long Snapper
81 Dave Peck, 6-5, 246, Sr.
57 Drew Woodward, 6-4, 228, Jr.

Holder
21 Chris Maragos, 6-0, 189, Jr.
98 Brad Nortman, 6-3, 215, Fr.

Punt Returners
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So.

Kickoff Returners
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So.

If Gilreath and Moore are indeed our starting receivers, that's not a lot of beef out there. Jefferson's no sumo wrestler, either. Weight and strength are not necessarily a prerequisite for success at the position, but they certainly help beating jams and in the running game.

Finally: what's with all these "ORs" that started popping up on the depth chart a couple years ago. It's a two-deep, not a three-deep — make up your mind and pick someone!