UW-Miami thoughts

What a win. What a win! Outstanding effort all the way around by the Badgers, great finish to a very satisfying year.

There are larger implications from winning this game, which we'll get to in the days to come, while we focus on tonight's game immediately. But the one thing I couldn't help but think in the immediate aftermath was this: Bret Bielema has a signature win, and the days of www.firebretbielema.com seem like a long, long time ago. This program heads into the offseason on solid footing.

On to tonight's game:

-Other than the first play of the game, we thoroughly dominated this game. For being the team that 90% of experts picked to win this game, Miami came out flat, predictable, and had glaring weaknesses exposed. The weather, "c0ld" at around 50 degrees, seemed to adversely affect Miami (did you see Donna Shalala bundled up like it was February in Madison? She's gotten soft). Our December game at Hawaii helped us maintain a good rhythm heading into this game, and we basically played our game: balanced offense, pass rush leading the defense. Miami was running trick plays from the opening whistle and didn't seem convinced they were the better team. If that was the case, they were right.

-Be honest: when we botched yet another onside kick recovery (how many was that this year?), you thought we were going to steal defeat from the jaws of victory, didn't you? Or was that just me? But give a load of credit to our defense, especially the line, who played great all night. Give the defensive game ball to J.J. Watt, who is setting the stage for two all-conference seasons. O'Brien Schofield was terrific too, we've come to expect that from him. And Chris Borland was around the ball a ton, showing some great speed and pass rush moves (Did you see his spin move that caused the Miami lineman to fall down? Vintage Borland.)

-Give credit to our defensive backs, too. The pass rush was consistent and kept Jacory Harris off balance, but with a couple exceptions our guys had decent coverage. A note on Chris Maragos: when he went off injured after our last kickoff, I noted it to Jana as a huge problem, and Miami marched straight down the field. Harris made a good throw to Hankerson, who made a nice catch in front of Aaron Henry, who should have blown him up instead of waiting for a tipped ball to fall into his hands. We'll miss Maragos.

-We heard a lot about Miami's run defense leading up to this game, and about our failings in the run game against Ohio State and Iowa (maybe they have pretty good defenses). Well guess what? We ran for 170 yards, John Clay went for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and Montee Ball had a solid 61 and didn't look intimidated at all. Let's identify who deserves primary credit for this:

Gabe Carimi, Travis Frederick, John Moffitt, Kevin Zeitler, Josh Oglesby. With a few exceptions, the holes weren't gaping, but they were substantial enough for 3-4 yards at a crack, which we'll take all day. Carimi coming back from his early leg injury was huge, as was Oglesby after his several-game absence. It's hard to properly identify interior blocking at times, but Frederick, Moffitt, and Zeitler were solid.

-Lance Kendricks had a big block on Clay's second touchdown run, but more notably he had 128 yards receiving. Good time to have a career day and set the stage for an all-conference senior season. Throw in Garrett Graham's six catches for 73 yards, and our tight ends went for more than 200 yards receiving tonight. That's one way to negate Miami's advantage at cornerback. Big props to Paul Chryst for designing a game plan that put these two guys in open spaces.

-Somebody had to get them the ball, and Scott Tolzien played a great game. He completed almost 75% of his throws and went for more than 250 yards (we also heard about his strugles against ranked teams too, didn't we?). He had the pick, but that was more the result of a nice play by Miami's lineman. Our pass protection wasn't exactly airtight, but it gave Tolzien enough time to diagnose the coverage and step into throws, and he consistently got the ball out just in time to the right guy. In last year's Champs Sports Bowl, our scattershot quarterback play helped us get blown out. In this year's, it helped us pull an upset.

-Speaking of last year, how do you think last year's team would have done after giving up a game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown*; throwing a pick on the edge of the red zone; fumbling away the game-salting touchdown; racking up 60 yards in penalties, which all seemed to negate crucial plays; fumbling an onside kick? Any one or two of those things would have done in last year's team. This year's team was resilient, we overcame all those negatives. Give credit to the captains: Maragos, Schofield, Graham, Mickey Turner, with help from the likes of Watt, Moffitt, Sherer, McFadden. Great leadership and chemistry this year.

-All year I've been complaining about Brad Nortman's propensity for kicking the ball into the end zone. Today he had at least two great punts that pinned Miami deep in their own territory. Great time for him to figure that out. And how about Philip Welch coming through with two field goals? Who's next to find his accuracy, Mason Crosby?

Did you see how the kids mobbed Bielema after the game? It was the best indication yet to me that this team realized that while Bielema and his staff took a lot of heat after 2008 (rightfully so), the players themselves had to take ownership of the results as well. The fact that they took a program that started with a ton of question marks in August and turned it into 10 wins and a victory over an ascendant Miami program in their home state in a game nobody thought they'd win had to be an incredibly satisfying experience for them to share. It showed in their reaction.

Watching tonight's game was an incredibly satisfying experience for me and Badger fans around the world.

Going to try and sleep now, wish me luck.

UW-Miami halftime thoughts

For as poorly as this game started, you have to be happy with a 17-7 halftime lead. I mean really, we've dominated this game with the exception of one play. It could be 24-0 or 28-0. Now the key is to make the proper halftime adjustments, or counter their adjustments.

It's funny that Miami has heaters on the sideline, it appears to be around 50 degrees. They're over there shivering (Donna Shalala in a parka!) while our guys are in short sleeves. That can't be good for their mindset.

Surprised that Miami called so many trick plays so early in the game. On one hand, it's a bowl game, you've had a chance to work on some new things like that. On the other hand, you're the prohibitive favorite, you should line up and play straight. Their kickoff return reverse was just beautiful, especially after seeing that aerial view showing that Shields actually lined up on the first line of blockers.

We've run the ball very well with Clay, he's been patient and let his blocking develop. On his long run, Travis Frederick and John Moffitt had picture perfect blocks. On his touchdown run Lance Kendricks blasted the defender backward. And Montee Ball has looked good in his carries of relief.

What a great half by Kendricks ... except for that end around, which we busted out for the first time since the Purdue game. Tolzien has been fairly sharp, the interception was a nice play by their defensive lineman.

J.J. Watt and O'Brien Schofield have played their usual game, and the other guy who's stuck out on defense has been Jay Valai. And other than that opening return, the special teams have been good with Brad Nortman and Philip Welch contributing nice kicks.

Miami looks out of synch right now offensively, and their defense has shown cracks. Jacory Harris looks hobbled, and they just lost their fastest back. It would be nice to get six right off the bat, make them predictable, and play keepaway with our running game.

John Clay to the NFL?

Last week the Journal Sentinel had a story about UW coaches seeking input about John Clay's NFL draft stock. It was an appropriate story to write: Clay is in line to be the Big Ten's offensive MVP, and as a third-year player he is eligible to enter the draft.

John has to look into it -- it's his professional vocation on the line -- but my sense is that he's best served waiting another year or even two. From my living room floor, here's how he stacks up.

Pros: Great size, lean, decent medium-range speed, pad level, nose for the end zone

Cons: Lack of breakaway speed (Fresno TD run notwithstanding), receiving ability (no chance to showcase yet), physical style has led to some injuries, ball security -- early in the year, and late in the loss to Northwestern

Without looking at all the other potential draftees among running backs, Clay seems like a third round pick at best, fifth or sixth round pick at worst. He's probably better than P.J. Hill was a year ago at this time, but not by a mile.

If Clay left, a Montee Ball-Zach Brown combo wouldn't be terrible going into next year. But a Clay-Ball-Brown rotation would be nasty and the driving force for what could be a huge 2010 for us.

UW-Indiana box score

Thoughts from the Wisconsin-Indiana box score:

-As much as Indiana shredded our pass defense, here's an interesting stat: we averaged 17.6 yards per completion to Indiana's 12.6. On 11 attempts, that's a pretty good day for Scott Tolzien.

-If we get through a game with a roughly 5:2 run-pass ratio, we're usually going to win.

-Time of possession advantage for Badgers: 33:45 to 26:15.

-Interesting punter comparison: Brad Nortman's gross average was 44.2 to Chris Hagerup's 37.8, but Hagerup's net average was 37.0 yards to Nortman's 32.5. Touchbacks will do that to a guy. Nortman's solid, I'm not complaining, but he can work on his coffin corner touch.

-Just one end around called today, a week after Lance Kendricks ran it so well and a year after David Gilreath ran it so well against Indiana. The fake end around was employed regularly.

-No surprise that Chris Borland led the team in tackles with nine, including one for loss and his incredible interception. But Devin Smith was second with eight, an indication of how often Indiana passed. Interestingly enough I don't remember a single play Smith was involved in.

-Will Patterson led Indiana with 10 tackles, but Montee Ball flat run over him on his second touchdown run. That's a true freshman running over a senior thought to be one of the best linebackers in the conference. The future is bright for that one.

-Indiana's defense is not good, and most of their key players are seniors. Besides Patterson, there's Greg Middleton and Jammie Kirlew, who were rendered non-factors by Gabe Carimi, Josh Oglesby and Jake Bscherer. It's hard to see the Hoosiers getting considerably better any time soon.

-Jay Valai had a tackle for loss and pass breakup, and was generally more noticeable today than in most other games this year. Which got me thinking: he's making less highlight reel plays, but he's also whiffing on tackles less often. Overall, his play has been solid, as has that of Chris Maragos, which has helped as our young cornerbacks have had their ups and downs finding their way on the edge.

UW-Indiana thoughts

What else can you think about this but, "Whew"? Glad we won, but that was far from the dominant four-quarter effort we should have shown against an inferior opponent in front of a crowd smaller than one you'd see at a Texas high school game.

First, give Indiana credit. They did some nice things in the passing game. Their defense got better in the second half, although it got better when our all-conference running back went to the sideline.

But we made enough plays to win on the road. Can't be too upset about that.

-Offensive MVP? How about Nick Toon. He had five catches for 123 yards, and his last two were huge. The long one set up Montee Ball's second touchdown run. The last one came on third down on a poorly-thrown ball by Scott Tolzien. If Toon doesn't make that catch, Indiana gets the ball back with a ton of momentum. Great game by Nick.

-Defensive MVP? Chris Borland is obviously top of mind; his pick in the third quarter thwarted a nice Indiana drive. But that play was made posibble by O'Brien Schofield, who hit Ben Chappell as he was throwing. Borland's stat line may be more robust, but OB came up with big plays at crucial times. What a year.

-That said, on the whole our pass rush was lackluster on the day, which is probably why our pass defense was the worst it has been since the Fresno State game. Then again, Indiana put up 24 points at Iowa, far better than we fared against that defense, as well as 28 at Northwestern and 33 at Michigan. So the Hoosiers' offense isn't bad.

-Not listening to the radio broadcast, but haven't heard yet why John Clay didn't play in the second half. He was on the sideline walking around, looked to be mentally with it. Our running game was obviously less effective with him out, but Ball played well in his first extended action -- 115 yards, two touchdowns, good ball security. We need Clay to beat good teams, though.

-Clay's status is obviously of primary concern, but I'm also worried about Josh Oglesby. When he walked off the field after holding his knee, I was optimistic, but he didn't return. He's had a good year, and Jake Bscherer, while probably not a terrible liability, isn't the force in the ground game that Oglesby is.

-I'd give Tolzien a C for his play today. Against a pass defense that bad, 194 yards isn't that hot. If his receivers hang on to those two well-thrown balls that they dropped, his numbers are significantly better. And he didn't take any sacks. Bottom line: he didn't do anything to lose the game for the Badgers, which was just what we needed today.

So Iowa loses to Northwestern, Michigan loses again, at home to the team we beat 37-0 last week. We'll see what it all means for Wisconsin after the Penn State-Ohio State game tonight. A top-flight bowl game remains a possibility.

UW-Iowa halftime thoughts

Not too much to complain about in the first half, we played well. Offense moved the ball fairly regularly, but Iowa's excellent defenders made some plays you'd expect them to make. Our defense was tight, with the exception of the one long pass play. I'd much rather be up two scores.

-Horrible kickoff coverage again to start the game. Iowa's Wegher looked like he was running in sand, but he still got it out past the 40. A Twitter post noted that we seemed to have more defensive regulars on the unit on subsequent kickoffs -- good move.

-J.J. Watt has been excellent coming off both edges, and O'Brien Schofield has continued adding to his honors resume. We need them to keep making those plays in the second half of the game, and the season.

-Mike Taylor gets hurt, and who's around the ball making plays? Chris Borland, of course. He's awesome. Hope Taylor's injury isn't too bad.

-John Clay was really running well before he got hurt, showing nice patience and vision. The offensive line has looked really good on running plays, the last one being Montee Ball's touchdown run -- great execution. Ball is looking like a guy we can trust.

-On his first punt return, David Gilreath doesn't call fair catch and gets drilled by a gunner with a running start. On Iowa's next punt, he doesn't catch it and the Hawkeeys get 15-20 yards in favorable bounces. Not only is our punt return game not a positive right now, it's a liability.

-I had just finished praising Jay Valai to my dad -- how he's had less highlight hits this year but also less major miscues -- when he seemed to be out of position on Iowa's long pass play. Can't say for sure without seeing the film or knowing the coverage call, though, so it may not have been his fault.

-Why put Curt Phillips in? Scott Tolzien was coming off his best drive throwing the ball, and we follow that up with a three-and-out. True, Curt looked good on his keeper run and was a shoestring tackle away from breaking it. And since Phillips hadn't played in a couple weeks it's not likely Iowa spent any time preparing for him. But it was a curious decision at the time.

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.

Wisconsin-Ohio State box score

Looking at the box score from the UW-Ohio State game just confirmed what was not hard to spot during the game. I'm not sure whether to be extremely frustrated and disappointed by this, or to be optimistic.

First downs: UW 22, OSU 8
Yards passing: UW 250, OSU 87
Total offensive yards: UW 368, OSU 184 (and that's with us losing 48 yards on sacks)
Total offensive plays: UW 89 (89!), OSU 40
Possession time: UW 42:47, OSU 17:13

How about these:

Average yards per kickoff return: OSU 34.8, UW 15.2
Interceptions-return yards-touchdowns: OSU 2-121-2, UW 1-13-0

-We had our first two fruitless trips into the red zone this year, breaks a nice streak.

-Montee Ball and Zach Brown didn't get many carries, but Ball did look much better on his chances. The TV sideline reporter said Brown had some sort of head injury. Ball entered the game when our line was clicking, and maybe Brown would have gained 6-plus yards a carry at that time. But it's hard to see how Brown stays at the top of the depth chart.

-Terrelle Pryor: 5-for-13, 87 yards, one interception, one touchdown. That's player of the year stuff.

-Scott Tolzien spread the ball around to 10 different receivers, pretty impressive ball distribution. Isaac Anderson did a nice job finding openings with six catches, but as noted yesterday, it should have been eight and one touchdown. Even a Kyle Jefferson sighting. Still waiting for a Kraig Appleton catch, there has to be a reason we burned his redshirt.

-Brad Nortman: 48.8 yards per punt, not bad.

-O'Brien Schofield is clearly our best defensive player and had another great game: two sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss. Who's our second-best defensive player? I think it's clearly Mike Taylor, who was around the ball a lot against OSU: team-high eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss. I love that our leading tackler is a freshman.

-Not much else to report from the defense, which was only on the field for 40 plays. The cornerbacks seemed to play well.

Wisconsin-Ohio State thoughts

A couple minutes ago Jana walked through the living room and asked who was winning. When I told her Ohio State, by 18 points, she commended me for keeping my cool. It's all about expecations, I told her. Didn't expect to win this game, and we didn't.

Sure, it's a disappointing result. It exposed our flaws in a big way, and showed we are not among the Big Ten elite, at least not at this moment. But there was still a lot to like. Thoughts:

-Let's give Scott Tolzien a C-minus for this game. Obviously, the two picks he threw that were returned for touchdowns were devastating, the difference in this game. But he still stood in against a tough pass rush and kept his poise, especially when OSU knew we had to pass, showing some decent escape ability at times. He spread the ball around nicely. Millen correctly pointed out that Tolzien was locking onto one receiver and not leaving him, which also hurt him at Minnesota last week. He got better at that later, but it cost him. How would you grade him?

-Tolzien should have had at least on touchdown pass, but Isaac Anderson dropped a well-thrown ball. Two drops today for Ike, can't have those and expect to win at Ohio State.

-The offensive line did get better in the second half after a shaky start.

-Guess we don't have that kickoff coverage figured out yet. Did any Badger lay a finger on Small on the return? We had three guys basically run into two blockers just to the right of the crease Small ran through. To the untrained eye, Bradie Ewing looked like the guy who ran himself out of position. What's the solution? Play starters on the coverage units? Seems risky, but the guys we're running out there on that unit now aren't getting it done, at all.

-Then there's Maurice Moore's sorry kickoff return. What else could Chris Borland have done to stop him from leaving the end zone, tackle him? Credit the offense for putting a drive together after that, it looked like the wheels were going to fall off big time at that point.

-Also missed a couple field goals, the second was one that definitely should have gone through. Maybe Philip Welch isn't out of the woods. Bottom line: even with a touchdown on a trick play, special teams are still a liability. Still coached by one Bret Bielema.

-Montee Ball looked good on his reps, ran well, showed patience, followed blocking. Also looked comfortable as a receiver out of the backfield.

-O'Brien Schofield was outstanding again today, showed a great pass rush and pursuit. He's halfway to an all-conference nod this year, and looking like an NFL prospect, maybe a 3-4 outside linebacker.

-Pryor did not impress me one bit. Perhaps the most damning thing he did Saturday was forget lose his helmet before their first drive of the third quarter. Right now he is a superior athlete taking snaps, but not much of a quarterback. The talent around him is slightly above average at best, our defense handled them for all but a few plays.

-That said, Ohio State's defense is every bit as good as feared. I like how they're a no-name unit, seems like anyone can make a play. Like us they have a deep defensive line rotation; unlike us, their guys are big and experienced. Their safeties are awesome, and the cornerbacks I'd never heard of before today were impressive. But we moved the ball on them, just couldn't finish. But they're going to need Pryor to be better to get through that Penn State-Iowa-Michigan stretch to close their season.

Bottom line: we don't shoot ourselves in the foot three times, this is anyone's game at the end. The key will be how we rebound against Iowa next week. Clean up the play? Or go into the fetal position and drop another one? Right now I'm betting on the latter.

It will be interesting to see how the Hawkeyes play against Michigan tonight. Will they be the team that dominated at Penn State or the one that struggled at home against Northern Iowa and Arkansas State? Right now I'm betting on the former.

More from the box score tomorrow.

Wisconsin-Minnesota thoughts

I'm getting too old for this!

Today's game should not have been close. We absolutely dominated the second half, ran the ball with authority, Tolzien settled down. And yet ...

Couldn't close the deal until the absolute end. Brown's fumble ... what can you say? The back-to-back 40-yard pass plays that allowed Minnesota to get close. Letting the Gophers convert fourth-and-16.

But we beat Minnesota. Again. Got to see our kids parade the Axe around their shiny, tiny new stadium. We're 5-0. Can't complain too much.

-I just loved the way we blocked for John Clay and the way he ran. It appeared that we wouldn't be able to do to much up the gut, with their enormous defensive tackles, but the off tackle runs were so effective. Especially around the left, have to credit Gabe Carimi. It will be interesting to see how the staff arranges the depth chart heading into next week. It's hard to see how they can keep Brown at #1, but if they're dead set on keeping Clay at #2 for whatever pscyhological reasons are at play, who are they going to start? Montee Ball? Stay tuned. Just happy Clay is looking like the back we envisioned.

-Tolzien was shaky at times, which is understandable given it was his first road start. Early on it seemed like he was fixating on his first option and not moving further into his progressions, which led to the first pick. But he played much better in the second half. His two passes to Lance Kendricks were very nice, particularly the second one that he dropped over Kendricks' shoulder. He fell back on Garrett Graham a bunch, smart move. Loved Paul Chryst's naked bootleg call that led to our last touchdown, and how Tolzien covered up with two arms at the end.

-Minnesota should have run the ball more, they were reasonably effective when they committed to it. When they fell back on the pass, our rush was effective in rushing Weber. O'Brien Schofield and Louis Nzegwu each had two sacks, and were relentless in their rushes. Chris Borland just continues to make plays, he was embarrassing Minnesota's right tackle. And let's not forget the excellent play Patrick Butrym made to intercept Weber's tipped pass. Minnesota was up three and driving for another score at that point, and we dominated play thereafter.

-All kidding aside, TCF Bank Stadium is nice. They need to come up with a better way of getting people in, we had a ridiculous wait and missed the first five minutes of the game. There are no cash registers at the concession stands. And they appear to treat Micron PC Bowl appearances just as importantly as national championships. But all in all it's a nice place, definitely a huge upgrade from the Metrodome.

I'll have more thoughts later, but back to the celebration.

Guys I'm excited about seeing

Every year there are a handful of guys we're especially excited about seeing. Not returning stars, mind you -- we know what they can do. But guys who haven't played much before, but are in position to make a big impact. It's one of the beautiful things about college spots.

Here are the guys I'm especially excited to watch this season.

Aaron Henry. Mainly because there have been north of 1 million kind words written about this kid since he blew out his knee a couple years ago. I'm not expecting him to be Jamar Fletcher or Jack Ikegwuonu. I am expecting him to be a cross between Allen Langford and Donnel Thompson. Which is exactly what this defense needs.

Louis Nzegwu. Something about his frame, background as a running back, and the lack of playmakers on the defensive line suggest that he will get a chance to make plays this year.

Lance Kendricks. Thought he'd break out more next year, but he got hurt (his collapse coming out of the huddle against Michigan State was downright bizarre). He can be to Garrett Graham what Graham was to Travis Beckum.

Josh Oglesby. I'm excited abou JO because people, including me, have been so tepid on him since he struggled at times in his starts last year. I have expect him to come out and be dominant at times.

Montee Ball. As a good friend of mine has observed, he looks great in a hot tub. Here's guessing he gets some time at the end of lopsided games and impresses in limited carries.

Curt Phillips. Not alone in this, hoping he can cut down on the mistakes and seize the quarterback job for four years.

Negative feedback loop

Lately, the downbeat economic news that has become so unavoidable has begun making mention of the economy being in a negative feedback loop. It's fairly easy to understand: businesses struggle, which leads to job losses and less consumer and business spending, which means to more business struggles, which leads to more job losses and even less consumer and business spending, which ... you get the picture.

That's what it feels like to be a Badger fan nowadays. Forget the basketball team's strugles, if you can. This cold spell has caused many fans to question the future of the program under Bo, by the most successful Wisconsin basketball coach of the modern era. (Read this post on Camp Lambeau, which is interesting, even if I don't completely agree.)

But the comments posted on a recruiting story the other day on Badger Beat really took the cake. The comments on the Madison newspapers' website, as they often are on the Journal Sentinel's blog, are typically ridiculously juvenile and ill-considered.

One poster at the end of the story, cleverly named http://www.firebretbielema.com/, claims that he is part of a group of 50 alumni who have been contacting recruits who orally committed to play at Wisconsin and asking them to cancel their recruiting visits. This poster expects his heroic efforts to pay off with several decommits before now and signing day. All in the name of trying to get our football coach fired.

Really?

Granted, this guy is probably full of crap, but just think if they actually did this. If you were, say, Montee Ball and you got a call from some random guy in Wisconsin, claiming to be a Badger fan, advising you to decommit, your reaction would be Are you friggin' nuts? right?

And if they were successful at sabotaging a recruiting class and getting Bret Bielema fired, and this became a publicly known fact, well that would make the Wisconsin job very attractive for hot coaching prospects, wouldn't it?

This negativity is just feeding on itself. It's to the point where the last two verbal commitments to our recruiting class, Dezmen Southward and Jacob Pedersen, are getting raked across the coals on the Internet by anonymous cowards who aren't impressed by these kids' resumes.

Southward, a teammate of Conor O'Neill at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, the #1 high school team in the country this year, is a raw prospect who chose us over some Big East schools. (On a related note: Conor O'Neal has decommitted and pledged to Boston College and its new coach, sparing Matt LePay much future confusion.) Pedersen, who plays for the UP's top program, had the gall to be recruited by some MAC and Division I-AA schools. Apparently this isn't good enough for the snobs who think every one of our recruits needs to have offers from Oklahoma, Florida, and USC as well.

My advice: take a step back everybody. Deep breath. Remember why you became a Badger fan in the first place. Cheer for the kids and coaches we have and that we're bringing in. Enjoy the wins, don't let the losses bug you too much. Break the negative feedback loop.

Coz and Brew

Looks like Timmy Brewster has hired Kevin Cosgrove to be his new defensive coordinator. Interesting choice, especially making him co-coordinator with former UW secondary coach Ron Lee. A veteran-newcomer pairing, similar to our Hankwitz-Doeren pairing of a couple years back.

Also interesting because his last stint as a coordinator, with Bill Callahan at Nebraska, was an unmitigated disaster. The way the Cornhuskers were giving up points that last year under Coz, the finals looked like basketball scores, not football. From what I can gather, Gopher fans aren't too excited about the hire, either.

But Coz did a nice job at UW, although his departure and Bret Bielema's arrival was a necessary jumpstart to the defense. Coz is also an ace St. Louis recruiter, which might hurt us there, just as we were starting to re-restablish ourselves there with the likes of Montee Ball.

My guess is he lasts no more than two years in Minneapolis.

Good for Lee, nice to see a minority getting a chance to make a name for himself as a coordinator and audition for head jobs.

Welcome new Badgers

The football program has added six new recruits lately, filling out the class at a variety of positions. I used to get a lot more excited about this part of the college football experience, but not as much any more. We could sit around gnashing our teeth about all these three-star guys (why aren't we getting more four- and five-star guys?!?!?!?) but for the past 15-plus years the program has been built on three-star guys who have worked to improve and been coached up to an elite level. Anyway, here are the latest soon-to-be Badgers:

Montee Ball, RB, Wentzville, Mo.
He's 5-11, 200 pounds, the right size for a back. He's rushed for about 5,000 yards in his sophomore and junior years, and has about 4.5 speed. We beat Kansas and Missouri for him. Scout has him as the 48th best back in his class.

Zac Matthias, OL, Hemlock, Mich.
Typical of the guys we recruit to play the line - 6-6, 305. We beat Michigan State and some MAC schools for him. Read a quote from his high school coach who said that if Lloyd Carr was still at Michigan, Matthias would have been holding out for an offer from them, but since RichRod is at Ann Arbor playing touch football, we got him.

Jon Lechner, OL, Omaha
Another 6-6 kid, primarily a run blocker. We beat out home state Nebraska for this guy. Apparently there's been some conflicting reports or wavering here, as Lechner's name has disappeared from the commit list.

Chris Borland, LB, Kettering, Ohio
Don't know much about this dude, but he's from a football hotbed, and I'm always for taking kids from Ohio. A linebacker from the Columbus area, doesn't seem like you can go wrong with that.

Brian Wozniak, TE, Loveland, Ohio
Another Ohio boy, I love it! He's 6-5, 225, already pretty good size for the position, and it stands to reason he'll grow. Looks like we beat Louisville, Maryland, and MAC schools for this guy.

Travis Frederick, OL, Walworth, Wis.
A Wisconsin kid! Travis is a 6-5, 302-pound tackle, the kind of kid we've built the program on over the years. He's also a really good student, over a 4.0 GPA, so you figure he's a good character guy.

Gotta wonder why the rash of recent commitments. Most likely offers coming after summer camps. Or are the coaches just pushing to get their recruiting done so they can spend the rest of the summer playing golf?