Michael Bennett is fast

In another hit from the Charlie Woke Up Really Early collection, the other morning we watched the replay of the Wisconsin-Oregon game from 2000.

Here's the lead from the AP story:

Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez is staggering the suspensions just right.

Sure seemed like it, didn't it? After we pulled this one out, I was pretty sure the Shoe Box thing wouldn't stand in the way of us having a big season. Wrong-o.

Watching this game was a painful reminder of just how much talent that team had, and how they managed to lose four games.

Even without Chris Chambers, Mike Echols, and Nick Davis -- all future NFL players who sat out that game -- we still beat a very good non-conference opponent.

The way he ran the ball that day, it seemed like Michael Bennett could have carried the Badgers to national championship contention all by himself. It's not a stretch to say that no one has run faster in a Wisconsin uniform than Bennett did that day. Of course, previous post subject B.J. Tucker finished second to Bennett in the 100 at the Big Ten track tournament, but he was repeatedly burned by Joey Harrington that day while replacing Echols.

But look at who else played that day. Jamar Fletcher had three picks. Brooks Bollinger ran for the last touchdown. Lee Evans averaged 19 yards per catch.

And that doesn't even include guys like Al Johnson, Casey Rabach, Ross Kolodziej, Wendell Bryant, Jason Doering, and Nick Greisen. Kind of makes you appreciate the recruiting efforts in the years immediately following the first Rose Bowl, which didn't seem that great at the time but turned out to be pretty damn good.

Gimme a Jay!

The Badgers' 0-2 start to the Big Ten season has me feeling like three other seasons in recent memory: 1996, 1999 and 2000.

In 1996, Wisconsin dropped narrow decisions to Penn State, Ohio State, and Northwestern, and ended up with a middling 8-5 record.

In 1999, after falling to Cincinnati and Michigan, the Badgers won out and went 10-2.

In 2000, close losses to Northwestern and Michigan set the stage for an unsatisfying 9-4 season.

It's not a stretch to say that tomorrow's game against Penn State will determine which way the 2008 season will go. Lose, and the confidence is shot, making games against even the likes of Indiana and Minnesota something less than sure wins. Win, and the confidence level is high going into tough games against Illinois and Michigan State.

The difference, in my eye, is whether or not a new game-changing playmaker emerges. Brooks Bollinger made all the difference in '99. I remember sitting in the press box in Columbus as the Badgers stormed back from an early deficit against Ohio State for a blowout win. It was clear he had given this team its mojo back.

Who could that guy be this year? I give you two candidates: John Clay and Jay Valai. You may have heard of Clay; I won't write any more about him now.

But think about Valai. He was a force against Ohio State, knocking guys out left and right with huge hits. He might be a little guy, but it appears like he's our biggest hitter, maybe the biggest hitter we've had since Jason Doering. We need his hits to result in turnovers, and need those turnovers to result in six points. We need a mojo infusion.

Jay is also apparently quite charismatic, which makes him a good candidate to assume more of a leadership role, one which I think is currently lacking. (As I write this, the 2008 football poster featuring our 16 seniors is staring at me disapprovingly from the opposite wall of my office. Sorry guys, I'm disappointed with the leadership shown thus far.)

What, you say, about the game-changing, playmaking freshman running back on the 1996 team? That team had more holes and less depth than this year's squad.

As for the Penn State game, most people are seeing this as a win for the other guys. Hard to argue. The win over Illinois was impressive, but it's a little hard to see this as a top-5 team when they appear to lack All-American players. Don't get me wrong, Daryll Clark, Evan Roster, Derrick Williams, Aaron Maybin, Anthony Scirrotto ... there's not shortage of good players there. But the only player on that roster who seems like a star to me is Maurice Evans, who has been suspended much of this season. A real sum-of-its-parts team.

Still, that's more good players than we have at this moment, and a greater sum.

Penn State 33, Wisconsin 20

By the way, did you notice that I came within a point of picking the score of the Ohio State game correctly last week? Hopefully I'm more wrong this week.

Statistical leaders: Defense

Here are the teams that led these statistical categories on the defensive side of the ball:

Yards per game: 2006 (253.1), 2004 (291.3), 1998 (292.6). The '06 defense was 38 yards per game better than the second-best — wow! In an era when more and more teams were running the Spread. And without a lot of exceptional individual players, maybe Ike and that's it. That's a credit to Joe Stellmacher, Mark Zalewski, and the other leaders of that defense who made sure everyone was in the right spot at the right time.

Rushing yards per game: 1998 (92.2), 1999 (109.9), 2006 (114.8). Holding opponents under 100 yards rushing per game over 12 games is nearly impossible to do, but Donnel Thompson, Chris Ghidorzi, Jason Doering and friends did it.

Completion percentage: 2006 (47.8%), 2004 (48.8%), 2000 (50%). That '04 mark is a tribute to the pass rush provided by Erasmus James and the defensive line — Brett Bell started at corner opposite the underrated Scott Starks.

Passing yards per game: 2006 (138.3), 2004 (167.3), 1999 (188.2).

Third-down conversion percentage: 2006 (28.2%), 2004 (31.2%), 1999 (33%), 1997 (33.3%), 1998 (34.7%). Are we coming to realize that the 2006 defense was the greatest in modern UW history?

Turnovers per game: 1993 (2.8) and 2998 (2.8), 2002 (2.5), 1994 (2.3). And yet the '02 team lost six games.

Penalty yards per game: 2006 (38.3), 1996 (39.1), 1999 (39.3).

Points per game: 1998 (11.9), 2006 (12.1), 1999 (12.8), 2004 (15.4), 1993 (16.3).

So here's the question I'll throw out at the end of today's exercise: which defense was better, 1998 or 2006?

On a dreary Saturday ...

... I'm a little bit worried about tonight's matchup with Valparaiso. Lots of good things have been written about Valpo - they only lost to ranked Vanderbilt; they beat Wright State, which beat Butler, and Miami, which beat Illinois - and if we don't come strong it could be one of those shocking losses which really isn't so shocking.

On paper we seem to match up well, as their leading scorers are taller guys. But they seem to be a team that relies on shooting 3-pointers, which we haven't always defended well this season.

Apparently this game was supposed to be played last year, but Valpo was young and inexperienced and we had a great veteran team coming back, so Homer Drew asked to postpone it for a year. Why did we agree?

Anytime I think of Valpo, I think of two things: Andy Falkowski's law degree, and the Bryce Drew miracle shot off the pass from Bill Jenkins, one of the twins from Nicolet we played baseball against. The thing I always remember about the Jenkins brothers was senior year, our game against Nicolet at Regner, when Sam Blahnik hit Bill or Bob in the seventh inning (with us up 1-0) and their athletic director running onto the field as if he believed the HBP was intentional. Yeah, put the tying run on base on purpose, good call.

But I digress. Planning on recording tonight's game and watching it tomorrow morning ...

-The Journal Sentinel reported this morning that six key Tennessee players are ineligible for the Outback Bowl. A starting defensive tackle and linebacker are among the ineligible, as is Lucas Taylor, the Vols' leading receiver. This makes me feel somewhat better about our injured-riddled secondary's chances of holding up against Erik Ainge's passing attack.

There's also a little nugget at the end of the story about little-known transfer Chris Maragos's switch to safety. Earlier this year the coaching staff was raving about the kid from Racine, and I made a snarky comment, but it looks like they weren't kidding.

We can look at this two ways: either this guy is a good candidate to be the next Joe Stellmacher/Jim Leonhard/Jason Doering, or this does not reflect well on Aubrey Pleasant/Jai Valai/Kim Royston. Or both.