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.

Questions from Adam Hoge

The latest round of Badger football questions comes from fellow Cardinal guy Adam Hoge, this time regarding the defense. Here are my thoughts:

Can you believe it has been five years since that great defensive line of 2004? Depth is once again an issue this year, but there seems to be some promise in J.J. Watt among others. Do you see any newcomers stepping up on the D-line to provide some depth?

It's funny, because when you mentioned 2004, the first thing I thought was "I thought 2005 would be a down year, and we ended up winning 10 games, great year." But thinking about it further, that was in spite of the defensive line! Even so, while injuries killed that unit (remember Beckum playing end?), but guys like Shaughnessy, Hayden, and Chapman showed promise. I don't see those guys on this unit. O'Brien is a solid starter. Watt seems to have a Hayden-like ceiling. But are there difference-makers? Doesn't look like it. I'll be happy if these guys can keep offensive linemen off our linebackers.

Speaking of a lack of depth, the linebacking corp seems to be scrambling to replace Jonathan Casillas and DeAndre Levy. Blake Sorensen didn't have a great spring, but he is still listed ahead of Mike Taylor on the depth chart. Are you worried about the linebackers?

Yes, very. Don't want to join the chorus questioning Sorenson, but I've never seen it with him. Saw Taylor play in high school and he was a stud, but we certainly can't count on him to be a standout this year. McFadden and St. Jean are average at best. And there is no one else. What about playing Pleasant at linebacker? We see so much Spread it might make sense to have a guy like that in the front seven.

Is it safe to say (and a little scary to say) that the secondary is the strength of the Badger defense? It seems like every guy listed on two-deep has shown flashes of brilliance at some point in the last few seasons, but they also have had their hardships. And will Aaron Henry really be as good as he looked like he would be before the knee injury?

It is scary, and I'd even question the "flashes of brilliance" assertion. We've seen flashes of competence from these guys, and I'd settled for sustained competence. But every one of the starters has question marks. Henry with the knee. Maragos still learning the position. Valai and his all-or-nothing hitter MO. Brinkley and big plays. But I'm actually optimistic about these guys, and the young guys too. Shane Carter is a wild card, if he could come in and force some turnovers that would be huge.

What are your thoughts on the defensive coaching staff? Toughness seemed to be an issue at times last season. How will this unit overcome the mental and physical shortcomings that were apparent in 2008?

I don't know about toughness, it's hard to get to be a guy who plays a lot on a Big Ten defense and not be at least somewhat tough. Remember, there were a lot of injuries on that side of the ball last year: Casillas, Levy, Chapman, Henry, and that hurt productivity. What sticks with me is comments made on my blog after the Iowa game. I forget who said it, but the point was made that our defense had finally adapted to deal with the Spread, but when we go against a power line and back like Iowa had, we get run over. That probably won't always happen, but there's a lot of truth there.

So by making the seemingly necessary adaptation to deal with the Spread, we have lost our identity as being a stout, stop-the-run defense, and become just another defense with a bunch of undersized guys running around in space. If these undersized guys were racking up sacks and interceptions, that would be on thing, but the unit seems mediocre at best, and it's not like next year looks any more promising. Some of that's on X's and O's coaching, but it's also recruiting and player development.

UW-Minnesota thoughts

Well, it's been a day since our big win over Minnesota. I just got done telling Will the story of the game; as was my intention, he was most interested in the part about Paul Bunyan's Axe. Specifically, he wanted to know how Paul Bunyan died, because he didn't think giants died. Will also thought it would be nice if the Badgers kept the Axe forever.

I agree. Just rallying to keep it this year was an unexpected joy.

So proud of everyone yesterday, from the coaches who didn't bail on what looked like a lost cause, to the players who forgot all the mistakes they'd made and put forth an inspired effort, to the fans who willed them on.

Can't remember when I've been part of a crowd like that. So emotional. So intense. Part of it was the gut-wrenching disgust at watching Gopher fans gloat over their team's first-half dominance. Part of it was desperation to get bowl eligible. Part of it was just natural excitement over the action on the field (two safeties in a row?). Part of it was watching the Gophers try to co-opt Jump Around as their own (how dare they?).

At the end, everyone was watching the crowd of players with the Axe, but I couldn't take my eyes off John Clay, who had grabbed a giant Wisconsin flag and was parading it around Camp Randall. Here was a redshirt freshman who represents the future of our program showing genuine enthusiasm over the moment. He was enjoying it as much as the rest of us, which is awesome.

On to the game.

-Can you ever remember a receiver having a career game that included three drops, including one for a sure-fire touchdown? Good for Isaac Anderson for shaking off the dropsies to be the playmaker at wide receiver that we desperately need. Nick Toon is showing promise too.

-P.J. Hill had a deceptively good game, aside from the fumble. He's had a solid stretch these last several weeks, and is in position to crack that 1,000-yard mark.

-When Niles Brinkley intercepted that pass on Minnesota's last possession and started running around, did anyone not think that, given the way this season has gone, he was going to fumble and the Gophers were going to drive down the field and either tie it or win it?

-Philip Welch's field goal to start the second half just barely made it over the crossbar. Had he not made that kick, I don't think the rest of that second half happens.

-Good time for Mike Newkirk to have the game of his career, wasn't it?

-How about a rundown of some of the head-scratching mistakes we made? Clay's fumble. Shane Carter's offside penalty on the Gophers' two-point conversion (come on man, think!). Dustin Sherer taking that sack when he was out of the pocket with a clear lane to throw the ball into the stands! The blown coverages that led to Minnesota's second and third touchdowns. Allowing that fourth-and-18 conversion. Blowing more third-and-shorts. The botched field goal attempt that would have put us up 10-0. And yet ...

We're in position to play in a decent bowl, maybe even win eight games this year.

And we keep the Axe.

UW-Penn State thoughts

What happened in the second half? I was washing Charlie's bottles and flossing.

Actually, I managed to catch it all, and there's not much to say. This is a team with a broken will. The losses to Michigan and Ohio State were just emotional crushers, and the several times we had glimmers of hope tonight we immediately responded with horrible plays.

We can talk about players and play calling and other stuff, but this is on Bret Bielema to turn this thing around. This team's psyche needs rebuilding, one play at a time, before what started as a season with high expectations turns into an all-time disaster.

More big picture thoughts to come in the week ahead, but here's some thoughts on tonight's mess at Camp Randall.

-Good thing we pushed that Virginia Tech game back a decade, eh? Wouldn't want to endure that tough game and then start Big Ten play 0-3.

-Silver lining: tickets for that Minnesota game November 15 ought to be more affordable, unless the Gopher bandwagon gains its first members after their win today against Illinois.

-We've called out Allan Evridge and P.J. Hill, but how about Travis Beckum? First, he sits out most of the Michigan game, choosing to insert himself into the game after momentum had swung too far, then messes up the two-point conversion. Starting tonight's game, he whiffs on a block on third-and-one on the first drive, setting P.J. up for a loss, and our half of bad field position commences. Then a drive or two later he goes offside. This is the kind of crap that doesn't happen with good teams. He's still putting up good numbers when completely healthy, but he's not playing an all-around game.

-Liked that we came out running the ball, seven straight plays to start the game. It got us into manageable down and distance situations, but we just couldn't convert.

-Evridge started running, which is a skill he was supposed to have coming here from Kansas State but haven't seen so far, and made some plays. The touchdown run was impressive.

Yet also on that drive, on second-and-goal from the 1, we get called for 12 men in the huddle. Yeesh.

-The Evridge follows up that very positive drive with another fumble. Then he almost throws a pick on yet another batted ball on the next drive. It was the right move to get him out of there and replace him with Dustin Sherer.

-That said, I wasn't impressed with Sherer at all. Lucas and LePay, who somehow named him player of the game, are talking right now about how they think he earned more playing time going forward, and when asked, Bielema seemed to agree. What I saw was two good passes coming off the bench (one more than Evridge threw), then a variety of scattershot throws against a soft prevent defense.

Sherer's mechanics were subpar, although some of that might be attributable to the steady pass rush he faced. His feet were seldom set optimally, and his arm slot appeared different from throw to throw. His passes lacked zip and were not particularly accurate. He is slower than Evridge.

In my mind, for all his flaws, Evridge is still clearly the quarterback that gives Wisconsin the best chance to win this season. Which is frightening.

-Here's another little thing: on some play in the second half two Penn State defensive linemen jump the snap count and are in the backfield, yet John Moffitt doesn't snap the ball, and allows them to get back after what seems like an eternity.

-Another killer: it's third-and-20 for Penn State and we have them pinned deep in their own end, and Daryll Clark throws for 21 yards on the run, great pass and route. Another instance of not closing the deal.

-Here's another small thing: David Gilreath calls for a fair catch on his own 6. Everyone knows you just don't do that. He did just about nothing with ample return chances.

-The box score shows we had eight penalties for 74 yards, but it seemed like twice that much.

-After the first of Sherer's interceptions (that one that was overturned was a bad call by the replay guy) Moffitt got laid out by Aaron Maybin. It reminded me of Chad Clifton getting annihilated by Warren Sapp in a game at Tampa a few years ago. Thankfully Moffitt appeared OK. With Carimi out and Urbik hurt (hopefully not too badly), offensive line depth is now a concern.

-Did you notice Chris Maragos started at free safety for Shane Carter tonight?

-Penn State was much better than I thought. They are legitimate national title contenders and might not lose in Big Ten play. Clark is really impressive, and he is surrounded by guys who make plays and a good line. Same thing goes for Maybin and their defense. Just think how good they'd be if Sean Lee hadn't hurt his knee.

Too bad the game was so bland that the second half turned into one long tribute to Joe Paterno and Penn State football. Can't blame Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge, they can only talk about the Scrambler at Mickies Dairy Bar and the fried Icelandic cod at the Avenue Bar for so long before getting back to "Sherer's pass to Graham sails high."

At least Iowa ... even next week's game looks tough now. Let's see what Bielema has up his sleeve.

UW-Ohio State thoughts

Well, that was disappointing, wasn't it? Looks like we're quickly fading from Big Ten title contender to afterthought. Motor City Bowl, here we come.

The second half seemed to go by really fast, didn't it? It wasn't as decisive as in the loss at Michigan, but we were clearly outplayed in the second half again. That's three straight weeks, a disturbing trend.

-I liked seeing P.J. and Clay in the backfield at the same time, but can we give up on the pass in the flat to Hill? First Evridge bounces one, then P.J. can't handle a relative gimme.

-My guess is a lot of fans are going to be clamoring for Clay to be the starter after tonight's performance. I'm not ready to, but it's close. P.J. didn't run badly at all tonight, and his touchdown run, where he drove Ross Homan into the end zone, was a man's run. But things seem to pop more when Clay gets the carry. As Mike Patrick pointed out, he hits the hole faster than Hill.

-A key play early in the second half that killed momentum was Isaac Anderson's drop of a perfectly good Evridge pass. Didn't seem like a huge deal, but it cost us the chance to go up two scores and put more pressure on Pryor.

-Shane Carter was very tentative on Wells' big runs. It almost seems like because he got burned taking bad angles so often last season, he's trying to play things more cautiously this year -- and against good backs like Wells, the result is the same.

-That guy at Mickies Dairy Bar was reading the Herald, not the Cardinal -- that doesn't reflect reality, does it? ;)

-It was distressing that Pryor beat us on the final drive with his passing. He looked like he was shot putting the ball back there. Not sure if that's how he normally throws or if it was the hand injury, but it was ugly; got the job done, though. OSU's receivers were wide open, even though we appeared to be dropping six or seven guys into coverage.

-A key field position exchange came late in the third quarter, when Ohio State's A.J. Trapasso outpunted our Brad Nortman by about 20 yards. That negated a nice job our defense had done stopping them deep, and gave the Buckeyes a short field to drive for a field goal.

-Replays showed clearly how disorganized our defense was on Pryor's winning touchdown run. There's that leadership thing again -- get the guys lined up properly, or someone call a timeout and make sure everything is in order. (Burning two timeouts in the first 7:23 of the second half didn't help, either.)

Ohio State may win out and return to the national championship game (and the nation cringes), but there's really nothing special about this team yet. Just like there's nothing special about ours.

In a way, losing last week at Michigan makes this one easier to stomach (finally, a silver lining!). Maybe eased of the burden of great expectations, the Badgers will play loose and go on a run. Or maybe they go into a tailspin and this program is doing some soul searching this offseason. Right now it could go either way.

Five great players

When Barry first rolled out his Five Great Players theory a decade ago I really liked it. Everyone's always looking for a formula for sporting success, and the fact that he could point to Gibby, Dayne, Burke, Davenport, and Stemke and a cast of pretty good guys as the reason the '98 Badgers won the Rose Bowl.

So what about the 2008 edition? Does it have five great players? I would argue it has one.

Travis Beckum. That's it.

P.J. Hill? Could get there, but injury prone. Kraig Urbik? An above-average lineman, but not great. Matt Shaughnessy? Still waiting for him to advance beyond second team All-Big Ten performances. Shane Carter? Great ball skills, subpar tackler.

Jonathan Casillas has the ability to perform at a great level, but I wouldn't put him in that category yet. David Gilreath could be a great returner, but I'm still thinking his success last year was more the result of ample opportunity than flat-out excellence.

So, here it is in the second week of July, and Badgercentric is already forecasting a less-than-special year for our boys. Prove me wrong, guys.

Wisconsin-Tennessee thoughts

Tough loss. Tennessee definitely deserved this one, but it's a game we could have won without an extraordinary effort. It boiled down to some things that have plagued us all season, and some unexpectedly subpar coaching calls at times. Don't want this last game recap to be overwhelmingly negative, but that's what sticks out right now.

-Really have to like the way the defense played in the second half. But ... the Vols converted on so many third downs that we never got the decided field position edge that we needed. A number of bad missed tackles and familiar culprits - Elijah Hodge, Shane Carter, Kim Royston - that gave UT 15-20 yards a crack more than they should have had. Not getting off the field in these situations was the big difference between this year's defense and last year's.

-More execution gaffes: Hubbard's fumble, Jefferson's drop, all those procedure penalties, Donovan's underthrown last pass. Using two timeouts early in the second half also hurt.

-Two of Chryst's calls really struck me as bad from the snap: the pitch left to Smith on third-and-five, and the fourth down call in the fourth quarter that had Donovan rolling right with nobody even remotely open. We're Wisconsin, run the ball right at them on those plays. Reminded me of the option call at UNLV.

-The field seemed very soft, lots of guys slipping around. Wasn't a difference-maker, though.

-We seemed to have more fans there, or at least our fans were much louder than the assembled hillbillies wearing orange. (Sorry, made it almost 14 hours into the new year before a bitter slip.)

-Not sure why Beckum wasn't more involved, if he was well-covered, if Donovan was missing him, or, least likely, if he wasn't prominent in the game plan. If you would have told me four hours ago that he wouldn't get the 40 yards he needed for 1,000 on the season, I would have laughed.

-Thought the staff took too long to put P.J. back in during the second half. He played great today, no signs of rust. I'll follow up on this later this week, but is there still doubt that he's our best back? He is our best chance to consistently beat good teams by controlling the ball on the ground.

-Hodge's missed tackle or two aside, the linebackers played well. Hodge made a nice play to block the field goal attempt - thought we almost got an extra point earlier. Casillas and Levy were constantly around the ball, Casillas in the backfield, Levy in coverage. Schofield and DeCremer also made nice plays in the second half.

-LePay just said the senior class ends up as the winningest class in UW history - 40-11. Congratulations to these guys.

Disappointing end to a season that didn't deliver on high expectations, but we played a close game on January 1, won nine games for the fourth straight year, had a winning Big Ten record and went undefeated at home. If
you feel like complaining about that, I feel sorry for you.

Look for a more detailed season recap or two in the coming week.

Outback Bowl thoughts

Following up on Andy's comment to the original Outback Bowl post:

I think that's interesting too, since everyone has basically assumed that we're not going back to the Cap One Bowl for the third straight year.

Here's my fear: Missouri or Will's alma mater, West Virginia, loses on Saturday; Ohio State goes to the national title game; Illinois goes to the Rose Bowl; Michigan then leaps into the Cap One Bowl and not the fourth-tier bowl they deserve.

Whatever, I'm happy with Tampa. We've been there three times before: losing to Georgia in 2005 and 1998 and beating Duke in 1995 (see, basketball isn't that important - we beat Duke in football 13 years ago!).

Those were wildly uneven matchups. Following the '94 season, in which we had the talent to challenge for the Big Ten or national title, we got a Duke team that had overachieved and was outclassed. The first Georgia game followed a '97 season where we were pretty mediocre, undeservedly leapfrogged Purdue in the bowl pickings because our fan like getting drunk in Florida, then watched Mike Bobo turn into Joe Montana for one morning. The last trip was the culmination of a painful late '04 collapse, when we lose our last three games after starting 9-0, including the Tucson monsoon and Minnesota blowout on a perfect Madison November day that most of us were at. What I remember from that one is how much the media hyped the Erasmus James-David Pollack defensive end matchup, which was won convincingly by Pollack.

As I said earlier, I'd really like Tennessee to be the opponent, for variety's sake. Of course, the way LSU's games have been going this season the Vols could win Saturday, bump LSU to the Capital One Bowl, and bump Florida to the Outback Bowl. I'd be okay with that, too, although we're less likely to beat Florida than Tennessee. Trying to stop Tim Tebow would be challenging and entertaining, but they run the freaking spread, and you all know how I feel about that.

Don't know much about Tennessee, but pretty sure they run a man's offense. I'd rather face Erik Ainge winging it around back there than some magician/quarterback. Ainge threw for 2,900 yards and 27 TDs this year, they seem to have a number of capable wideouts, and Arian Foster is a 1,00-yard back. Will research more once the opponent is determined for good.

-Rivals announced its all-Big Ten team. Our first teamers are Travis Beckum, Kraig Urbik, Nick Hayden, and David Gilreath as a punt returner. Our second teamers are Matt Shaughnessy, Jack Ikegwuonu, Shane Carter, and Ken DeBauche. Good to see Gilreath get some pub.

-In the Journal Sentinel's Badger Blog Dave Heller today found that a Yahoo NFL Draft columnist thinks Wisconsin expects both Becks and Ike to return next season. I'm not so sure, but we would be looking pretty damn good if they did.

Darren McFadden for Heisman, more Badger-Gopher thoughts

A month or so ago I jinxed Rashard Mendenhall by trumpeting his Heisman Trophy worthiness, and this week I did it to Glenn Dorsey. By Glenn was hurt and didn't do much yesterday as LSU became the latest top-ranked team to lose.

So now I'm plugging Darren McFadden. How big was he yesterday? Four touchdowns, 200-plus yards rushing, a man among boys against a talented defense.

If I had to bet my mortgage on who wins, I'd put it on Tim Tebow, who has had a fantastic season, but McFadden is a special player who comes along once in a generation for a conference - like a Herschel Walker for the 2000s - and he's not as much a product of the system as Tebow is.

-How exciting was that game yesterday? That was the most exciting game I've seen since LSU beat Alabama ... or since Kentucky beat LSU ... or since LSU beat Auburn ... or since LSU beat Florida. I can't remember an elite team playing this many thrilling games, maybe ever. And they're not just close games, they're games with lots of tension and big plays.

How big was Arkansas to get off the mat after blowing its lead several times to rebound and finish off the Tigers on their home field? The more I watched yesterday's game, the more I appreciated Wisconsin's win over Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl. That was a damn good team - take all of yesterday's key contributors, throw in Tony Ugoh (the Colts' starting left tackle), two great defensive ends (including top 10 pick Jamaal Anderson), a great corner in Chris Houston, and a great linebacker whose name escapes me - and beating the Razorbacks was quite an accomplishment.

One big absence, though: Peyton Hills. Pretty sure he didn't play in Orlando, and he made a ton of big plays yesterday.

-Although I love an upset like Arkansas', I am sick to my stomach about the possibility of a wholly undeserving Ohio State team playing for the national title.

-While relaxing in a hot tub last night, I saw a replay of the Badgers' win over Minnesota (was that only a week ago?), mainly the fourth quarter. Some new thoughts:

On the play before Tyler Donovan's fourth down conversion run, he completed a pass to Sean Lewis, who looked really natural as a receiver subbing for the injured Travis Beckum. Thing is, Lewis appeared to push off the Gophers' DB.

On several running plays Gabe Carimi seemed to be a half-step behind the snap count, coming out of his stance slightly after the rest of the line. Didn't make a difference, though, the Minnesota guys were so slow Gabe was able to get into his block anyway.

That last touchdown Minnesota scored was even more of a fluke than I originally thought. The guy who ended up scoring, Ralph Spry, was pretty far away from the action when it happened. Also, Shane Carter was standing behind the intended receiver and Aaron Henry, if he had gone up to make a play on it, the ball might not have bounded away so high and far.

Zach Brown's last touchdown run was a thing of beauty, he did an awesome job keeping his balance and staying on his feet.

After Minnesota's botched fake punt, it appeared that Ken DeBauche hustled over to say something to the Gophers' punter, Justin Kucek. May have been innocuous, but looked like Kenny was taunting him. Kenny also pulled something like this earlier in the year when a returner had a long run called back by a penalty, forget the game. After blasting Clint Brewster for his actions and words, it's only fair to bring this to light - wish Kenny wouldn't do that.

Watching Donovan elude sacks brings to mind Michael Vick - looks like a video game character darting back and forth. Unfortunately, during one of those instances against Minnesota, while he was dancing we had three guys wide open that were missed - maybe if TD hangs in there and throws the ball instead of dancing, he hits one of those guys.

Still like Kirk DeCremer a lot, he's always around the ball.

Finally, after watching Bret Bielema's mad dash to shake Tim Brewster's hand after the game several times, I don't think there was anything wrong with it. The first time I saw it, BB looked a little too eager and gleeful. Then I thought "He just wanted to get back to his team," but after the handshake he turned around and jogged to nowhere, a la Jim Valvano. But after seeing it for a third time, it didn't seem that inappropriate, just weird. Especially since all the Badgers who weren't parading around the Dome with Paul Bunyan's Axe were exchanging pleasantries with their Gopher counterparts.

It's funny - even though I knew the outcome and was there in person, watching the final seconds unfold and the postgame with the Axe, and explaining it to Will (who didn't really get it yet), I was still giddy and excited. That's what Badger sports still do to me, I guess.

All-Big Ten: Where the Badgers landed

A mediocre season of football in the Big Ten has concluded, and the conference's all-league teams have been announced. The lack of true star power and bona fide first round picks is a good indicator of conference's overall strength. Scanning the lists released by the coaches and media shows a number of Badgers honored. Let's run them down:

Coaches
First team: TE Travis Beckum, CB Jack Ikegwuonu, K Taylor Mehlhaff
Second team: RG Kraig Urbik, DE Matt Shaughnessy, P Ken DeBauche
Honorable mention: S Shane Carter, LB Jonathan Casillas, C Marcus Coleman, QB Tyler Donovan, DT Nick Hayden, WR Paul Hubbard

Media
First team: Beckum, Ike, Coleman
Second team: Urbik, Mehlhaff, Shaughnessy
Honorable mention: Carter, Casillas, DeBauche, Donovan, Hayden, RB P.J. Hill

Thoughts:

-Beckum should have been first-team last year, not second team and honorable mention, so it's nice to see the right call made this year. We'll see how All-American honors work out for him, there are some other good ones out there, and Becks' perceived blocking deficiencies might hurt him there.

-At first Ike's honors puzzled me, since he seemed to regress this year after a terrific sophomore season. But he did lead the conference in passes defended in league play, and had great games against James Hardy and Mario Manningham. Like Beckum, it will be interesting to see if he returns to school for his senior season.

-Really happy to see Coleman get the first team media nod, what an unsung member of a really solid unit. It's so hard to gauge what constitutes an all-conference center, he's usually not getting out and blocking a corner, pulling, or pancaking defenders. With a freshman left tackle, shuffling chairs around him, and a first-year starting quarterback and parade of different running backs behind him, Coleman held it all together for what turned out to be a pretty damn good offense.

-Really glad for Mehlhaff, who's been so solid for several seasons now. Replacing him next year is a major concern. Think he got a vote from the Brewster household?

-Urbik - see Coleman. Could he be the center next season?

-I expected Shaughnessy to be first team this year, but his second team status is more a reflection of the strength of the position in the conference. Really hope he comes back next year, a consistently solid performer.

-Happy for Hayden, rebounding from a poor junior season to have a strong senior season reminiscent of his 2005.

-Thought DeBauche would have a better season, but he was pretty good. He spoiled us with his first three seasons, and went out on a solid note.

-Hope Casillas is ready to make the step to first or second team as a senior, he's got the talent to do it.

-Hubbard? Really? Both of UW's starting wideouts were hurt for periods this year, and Luke Swan ended up with twice as many catches. Still, Hubbard did some nice things this year.

-Speaking of Swan, he won a Sportsmanship Award, nice touch for a classy kid.

-Donovan turned out to be much better than I thought he'd be, a playmaker every bit as much as a game manager. He'll be missed next year.

-Missing those last 3-1/2 games probably cost PJ 700 yards rushing. He would have pushed Beanie Wells for first team all-conference in that case.

Wisconsin-Minnesota postgame thoughts

Yesterday was fairly draining, but all ended well. There's going to be two posts about the game, one focusing on the game, and one focusing on what a joke of a program Tim Brewster is cultivating here at Minnesota.

-What a tremendous game by Zach Brown. Let's do some clarification here. Last week I compared him to Eddie Faulkner, a career backup. Several of my friends challenged that Zach is much better than Eddie. I will agree, but still see him as a backup, mainly because of the guys who should be ahead of him. This just speaks to the depth of the program and how the overall talent level has been upgraded in the last decade.

-Even against a horrible defense like Minnesota's, give props the line for opening the holes for Zach. And it was another next-man-in scenario, when Bill Nagy replaced the injured John Moffitt. Once again, surprising that Danny Kaye and Jake Bscherer didn't get a call, but it worked out.

-David Gilreath has been an emotional roller coaster all year, and Saturday he went out on a high note in front of the program he originally committed to. Like the running game, credit the blocking, he had gaping holes to work with, but credit him for taking advantage.

-Been up and down all year about Tyler Donovan too, and he didn't have his best game yesterday, but he won, and won with two bruised hands. The kid's tougher than nails and a winner ... can we compare him to Mike Samuel, only a better passer ... and runner?

-Once again Travis Beckum was the best player on the field. Someone in our group said "I think Travis has gone to his last class," and I can't disagree. Looks like an injured shoulder, hopefully he's ready for the bowl game.

-Love that Ben Strickland once again made a huge play to seal a win here. Our program succeeds with classy kids like Ben, not jackasses like Eric Decker and Clint Brewster.

-Elijah Hodge was hurt, Culmer St. Jean played okay in his place. Jae McFadden seemed to be back as well, didn't notice him that much.

-Another mediocre game for Jack Ikegwuonu, although getting punched in the groin by Decker didn't help.

-Thought we may have figured out how to defend the spread after beating an Indiana team with superior playmakers to the Gophers, but they really moved the ball well at times, without any semblance of a Division I running back on the field. Not having Hodge, Jason Chapman and Allen Langford might have had something to do with it.

-All Shane Carter does is catch interceptions. In a way he's comparable to Jim Leonhard, although Jimmy may have been better in run support.

-Another excellent game by the unsung hero, Ken DeBauche.

-One of my other favorite unsung players this season has been Daven Jones, and he made some intangible plays yesterday. He's done some terrific work on special teams, and I hope he ends up contributing at wide receiver to the level he was projected at coming out of high school.

-Adam Weber has a bright future for Minnesota, even if they stay with the spread. He's not nearly as athletic as I thought he was, and his passing needs polish, but he racked up over 400 yards of total offense on us.

-I'm going to miss Minnesota punter Justin Kucek, he's given Badger fans so many good memories.

Overall, we're 9-3 and have a shot to go a January bowl game. Ohio State's in a BCS game for sure; crazy things might happen to allow Illinois to get in there as well. If we play in the Outback Bowl, I hope it's against a new opponent like Tennessee. The Alamo Bowl wouldn't be bad, either, and the Big 12 opponent might be more beatable than one from the SEC.

So the regular season is over and we're not staring at a BCS game or national title game berth, but you know what? Good season. Nine wins for the fourth straight year, another winning record in Big Ten play, beat Michigan, beat Minnesota, 1,000-yard rusher, All-American tight end, undefeated at home sold out Camp Randall. All this even with a ton of injuries and other adversity. Nice job by the coaching staff keeping it all together this year.

I'm a glass-half-full guy this morning.

Wisconsin-Michigan postgame thoughts - hell yeah! (update following OSU loss)

As the tide seemed to be shifting in favor of the Wolverines in the fourth quarter, I started thinking about about what emotion would best fit my mood if we lost. Angry? Disappointed? Indifferent?

Then the defense and running game stepped in and finished things of, and I had to reverse my thinking. What emotion fits this win best? Elation? Relief? Bittersweet?

I'll go for the first. Beating Michigan never feels anything but awesome. Dominating Michigan like we did today? Even better. Forget all those what-might-have-been thoughts I was writing yesterday, it's all about the positive right now:

-Undefeated home record for the second straight year
-Still in the running for a winning conference record and the Capital One Bowl or the Outback Bowl
-Still in the running for a 10-win season
-Could be ranked again
-Some big-time players are playing big-time football
-Michigan has a chance to lose five games this year

And make no mistake, Wisconsin dominated Michigan today. I don't care if Henne and Hart had the sniffles or whatever, we were missing five starters because of injury and didn't have a roster full of Parade All-Americans to step in for them. Consider the stats:

-First downs: UW 24, UM 17
-Rushing yards: UW 232, UM 47
-Total yards: UW 477, UM 320
-Interceptions: UW 3, UM 0
-My favorite - Time of possession: UW 38:15, UM 21:45

The thoughts:

-It was Senior Day, and the relatively small senior class carried the day. Paul Hubbard (right) was huge with seven catches for 134 yards. Tyler Donovan threw for 245 yards and a touchdown, ran for 49 yard and a touchdown, and showed some nice dance moves avoiding sacks.

Taylor Mehlhaff made all three of his field goal attempts. Ken DeBauche average 45 yards per punt with a long of 65, and put four inside the Michigan 20. Marcus Coleman and the interior line handled a damn good defensive tackle in Terrance Taylor, who had a lot of tackles but did not stop the run. Nick Hayden (left) had 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.

-Good to see PJ get back in and try to make a go of it. I expect him to play next week, need to take a lot of get-tough pills this week. Hope Donovan is ready to play, would rather not throw Allan Evridge in there at this stage of the season. Looked like a pretty bad bruise on TD's hand.

-What is it about our punt return team at home against Michigan? They're like magnets for the ball. Nice job by the defense to get a three-and-out after that potential disaster.

-I can't get over the ESPN cameras' preoccupation with the couple hundred Michigan fans in attendance, they just kept showing those idiots.

-Shane Carter showed his strengths and weaknesses on back-to-back drives: watching Mario Manningham go right by him on the long TD pass, then making nice play on the ball for his second interception.

-When I saw the shot of what were presumably Chad Henne's parents in the stands, I thought about how pissed I would be if I was them, to come all the way from Pennsylvania to watch tough Chad wear a coat and call signals.

-The personal foul call on Deandre Levy was terrible, he stumbled and grazed Ryan Mallett's helmet. Later Obi Ezeh went helmet-to-helmet with Donovan, knocking TD out of the game, and no penalty.

-Funny to watch Manningham bitching at Mallett on the sideline, who is he, Terrell Freaking Owens? That's the kind of program they have in Ann Arbor, big-time athletes with big-time egos, just a factory churning out NFL players preloaded with NFL attitudes.

-I jotted down "Not Ike's best game," since he gave up some big plays, then look at the stat sheet and see he had an interception and four pass breakups. He also made a nice play downing a punt on the Michigan 3.

-Mallett was resourceful in escaping or almost escaping sacks. That backward shovel to the tight end was almost one of those back breaking plays.

-Mallett will be good in time, but today he was spraying the ball around like Wild Thing Vaughn. The guy was 11-for-36 - Tarvaris Jackson numbers.

-Best shot: The Badger fan wearing the I Heart Appalachian State T-shirt.

-Really nice effort by Zach Brown running for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Still think he's a career backup, a la Eddie Faulkner, but a damn good one. Nice to know we have depth at running back, a necessity in this program.

-Love how the line kept pounding Michigan - they wore down at the end and paved the way for Brown's scoring runs. That's Wisconsin football. For all the things that haven't gone as planned this year, our time of possession has still been stellar, a testament to the offensive line. The depleted defensive line played very well too, with three sacks and five TFLs.

Great win, really looking forward to Minnesota next week. The Gophers have to be the worst Big Ten team in recent memory and we should score 50 on them, but we've been upset there before and they run that damn spread offense, so anything's possible.

**ADD, 5:41 p.m. - Wow, Ohio State loses at home to Illinois. Didn't think it was impossible, but unlikely. Huge win for that program - the sleeping giant is waking up. What does it mean? Need to think about it a bit, but on first blush:

-Ohio State probably beats Michigan next week and "settles" for the Rose Bowl, not the BCS title game ... although who knows?
-Michigan goes Cap One Bowl, which is fitting, they didn't deserve the Rose Bowl with the lackluster year they've had.
-Ironically, beating Ohio State may push the Illini down to the Outback Bowl. Is my thinking right on this?
-Now it's between us and Penn State for the Alamo and Champs Sports bowls. New Year's Day seems unlikely. Wouldn't mind mixing things up and playing an ACC or Big 12 team in a bowl.

All this could change if Ohio State only falls a few spots in the BCS standings, since conference championship games, especially the Big 12 and SEC, could knock a couple high-ranking one-loss teams down a peg. We might have to wait until the first weekend in December to know our bowl fate, thanks to the domino effect of all these other teams.

More thoughts on this Monday when the updated BCS standings come out. #1 Kansas anybody?

Wisconsin-Michigan halftime thoughts

Before getting into today's game, a reference to two good stories from madison.com

-Andy Baggot on Ron Dayne's contributions to the UW athletic department. Never thought of them in such sweeping terms, but it's compelling.
-Adam Mertz tells us why Ohio State fans are miserable human beings. Good call Mertzy.

At halftime:

-I feel strangely confident, not my usual cautious optimism, but outright confidence. Probably because Michigan doesn't look like it cares about this game - if it did Henne and Hart would be playing, no matter what their boo-boos. I'd feel more confident if that awful 50-50 rule didn't give Mathews the catch that led to Manningham's TD. Seriously, what a terrible rule.

-ESPN's production gives the impression that the crowd is 75% Michigan fans, when it looks like it's closer to 1%.

-Why were we passing every down in the early going? Michigan's run defense is suspect.

-What a terrific catch by Shane Carter. He has run support limitations, but we haven't seen ball skills in a DB like his since Jamar Fletcher.

-What an awful pas by Donovan before Crable bailed him out with the personal foul.

-Instead of berating the officials - he should have been penalized - Lloyd Carr should have benched Crable for two dirty plays. Ol' Lloyd will probably feel silly when he watches the tape and sees both were easy calls.

-Donovan's TD pass to Beckum was one of those "No, no, no ... yes!" calls, kind of like me shooting a 3-pointer.

-Ryan Mallett is going to be a star for Michigan, he's got all the tools and will no doubt have weapons at receiver.

-Nick Hayden is playing really well. It would have been crushing had he gone to Michigan. Matt Shaughnessy is also playing very well against All-Universe Jake Long. ;)

-Great to say Luke Swan walk out without crutches. Paul Hubbard said it would be inspirational if he did, and it was.

-Awesome TD run/dive by Donovan. Just as big was his evasive scrambling and pass to Beckum on the last field goal drive, really stemmed momentum that was going Michigan's way.

-Hope Lance Smith isn't hurt too bad, Zach Brown doesn't look ready for this - although he did have a nice run called back by an obvious hold on the last drive.

Listening to a recap of Dayne's career right now, giving me goosebumps. Those were some great years ...

Calling O-H-I-O

SATURDAY ADDITION: Jim wrote a nice story on the Glenville connection in today's Cap Times, read it here. It's sort of buried on madison.com, but it's very well done and worth a read.

Most of you know that I spent my first two years post-UW in a humble little state called Ohio. It was an interesting time. Basically, my buddy Mike Pidanick and I would work 90 hours a week and play Madden and NHL ’96 for the other 78 hours. In warm months we added daily golf, with one year on the links accounting for 95% of my lifetime rounds.

We also spent lots of time watching high school sports, and after returning to Wisconsin I couldn’t help but think: the level of play and athleticism is significantly higher in Ohio. The difference was most noticeable in basketball, where athleticism is easier to spot. But the football players were also better. My second year there, Ben Roethlisberger came into Fremont and threw eight touchdown passes against our hometown boys. Eight! I can’t even begin to imagine a kid doing that in Wisconsin.

This has been on my mind more than usual since we play Ohio State this week. Let’s face it, the Buckeyes are going to take just about anyone they want from the state, but there are still lots of good guys left over. Lots of them end up playing in the MAC. I’m not saying we should be competing with Toledo and Kent State for recruits every year, but would Roethlisberger, Charlie Frye (who we also covered), or any of those other MAC stars contributed at UW? Damn right they would have. But we can also get high-level talented kids that would excel at OSU.

Henry Mason’s efforts have been outstanding mining talent from that state. I may be off a year or two here (Jim can help me out), but in the years preceding Mason’s arrival in Madison, we didn’t get much from Ohio. Kevin Huntley – a Crimson Streak from Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic – was a solid four-year contributor. But after Mason arrived came a line of real standouts: John Favret, Chris Chambers, Mike Echols, Chad Kuhns (a Bellevue Redman), Lee Evans. Russ Kuhns, Delante McGrew, and Dontez Sanders were starters. On today’s team, Jason Chapman and Kyle Jefferson and standouts, Lance Smith is good when he’s eligible, Shane Carter is making plays, and Otis Merrill, Prince Moody, Daven Jones, Brandon Kelly, and Bill Nagy are also on the roster, most with a chance to contribute some day. All except Moody are northern Ohio, most of them Northeast Ohio, guys.

The Ohio connection, in particular Bedford/Cleveland, is the best pipeline we have going right now. St. Louis was great for awhile – the Fletchers, Bryant, Starks, etc. – and we’ve got Wes Kemp coming next year. It is vital to the future of this program to keep these alive. We can only get so much out of Wisconsin, the Twin Cities should theoretically be more competitive with Brewster at the U, and Zook and Weis should take more of Chicago than we’re used to. New Jersey is another goldmine, but the rise of Big East football, Schiano at Rutgers in particular, and Penn State's return to relevance will make it tougher to get Ron Daynes out of that region.

I love how the Bedford kids talk about Chambers and Evans with such reverence, hopefully Jefferson can keep the tradition going.

As for tomorrow’s games, I have low hopes, but that’s okay. We ought to be a significant underdog, whether PJ plays or not, and have a chance to pull a stunner. My sense is that we will overachieve and play just well enough to lose by single digits. There’s nothing wrong with Ohio State, but the fact that they’re the clear-cut #1 nationally is more a reflection of college football’s dearth of elite teams than a reflection of their dominance. Last year’s OSU team would beat this year’s by 20.

Prediction: Ohio State 20, Wisconsin 16

UW-Indiana postgame thoughts

Watched the second half under the din of my father-in-law snoring on the couch behind me, an apt metaphor for the game on the whole. I'll take it, though - when Indiana plays that poorly, we should beat them by 30. I'll pick nits later, but let's lead with this thought:

Great game by the defense. This is the game we've been waiting all year to see from that unit. True, IU lost a few offensive linemen, but the effort transcended that advantage.

The defensive line played very well - good pressure on Lewis, but more importantly they shut down his running lanes. The linebackers were outstanding - Casillas and Levy in particular. And what can you say about Ike? Joe Hart's reference to Fletcher-Burress '99 proved to be dead-on - four catches for 17 yards for Hardy - as well as a fumble and a huge penalty. Langford got a right-place, right-time pick, Carter broke up some passes, and Pleasant and Royston were around the ball. And best yet: best tackling of the season, can't think of one blatant missed tackle.

Other thoughts:

-Too many stupid mental errors for the ninth game of the season. An offsides penalty made a third-and-1 into a third-and-6, an illegal shift nullified a terrific Donovan first down scramble, and a blatant offside on a kickoff.

-Great pressure by Hayden and Shaughnessy on Langford's pick.

-Took waaaaaaay too long to put these guys away, thanks to those mental errors and Donovan's fumble.

-Conversely, can't remember seeing worse ball protection than what Indiana showed today, they handled the ball like it was covered with butter.

-Loved to see Thigpen taunting our crowd after his long run, which everyone else knew was coming back because of a penalty on Hardy - which was a good call, Ike would have made that tackle.

-Did Gilreath give back his return record on that atrocious punt return in the third quarter? Oh well, he made up for it with a brilliant return in the fourth.

-Did anyone else notice how often Ike was around the ball on special teams? Is that a new role for him, or has he been on those units all along? Whatever the case, I like the assignment.

-Great to have Hubbard back. He only caught one pass for 30 yards, but he drew an interference penalty to set up a TD late in the third.

-Lance got off to a slow start, but came on late when the IU defense was tiring. Still, we really need PJ healthy next week to have a chance to win in Columbus. On Smith's TD runs he got a lot of nice blocking - Urbik, Rentmeester, and Turner's stood out.

-Speaking of Rentmeester, how great were his two runs, and Pressley's later? That's 45 yards on four carries for the fullbacks, hopefully that's not a gimmick and becomes part of the regular offense.

-Time of possession edge: 35:23-24:37, Wisconsin. Just what we needed.

-Aaron Henry is a playmaker. He caused one of Lewis's fumbles, and twice he was there to scoop up IU fumbles that were later (correctly) ruled down. He would have had big returns on both.

-Charles Davis, the color analyst, is very good. I thought so when he called bowls for Fox last year, and continue to think that for his work with the BTN. He deserves a shot at ESPN or ABC, but we'll see if his lack of a big name will hold him back.

-Well-officiated game.

-Lastly, did you see the video of the law school students trying to catch their canes? Homecoming legend has it that if you catch the cane after throwing it over the goalpost, you'll win your first case. Let me tell you, a lot of those canes hit the ground; too bad for their clients. Nerds!

What did y'all think?

Wisconsin-Indiana predictions

Wisconsin has handled Indiana fairly well over the past 15 years, going 8-2 against the Hoosiers since 1993. My favorite game was in 1994, our freshman year. IU came in ranked with a hot shot running back named Alex Smith, and Hill was still a big IU fan for football. We won 62-13.

But I just can’t shake the image of the two losses during that time:

-In 2001 Antwan Randle-El, Levron Williams and friends won 63-32 in Madison. I remember sitting in the press box at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh listening to the game on my Walkman, in total disbelief - touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. That game was the worst defensive performance by the Badgers since Alvarez took over. That game epitomized how badly the staff had missed in recruiting during the late '90s Rose Bowl years and left the program without depth. At least Randle-El was a worthy conqueror.

-In 2002 we collapsed late and lost 32-29 in Bloomington to a bad IU team. I didn’t even watch the game after we took what seemed to be a commanding lead, went shopping in West Towne with Jana. The best side story from that game: Bob Docherty (right), an Oshkosh North grad who went to UW along with Darrin Charles, was hurt that day and didn’t make the trip. He felt so comfortable with the game that he, too, didn’t watch the second half. Difference between him and me: he was a member of the team. After the game someone called him and asked him what he thought; he said something to the effect of “easy win, huh?” and his caller then informed him that the Badgers had lost. Soon Doc left UW and transferred back to UW-Oshkosh.

So while I was watching the replay of the UW-Northern Illinois game, the highlights that stuck with me weren’t of us running over an overmatched Huskies team, but the breaks showing Kellen Lewis and James Hardy against Penn State. The Hoosiers lost that one, because they turned the ball over four times in the second half, but put up 31 points on a damn good defense.

Indiana should also be plenty hungry – they’re still one win short of being bowl eligible for the first time since 1993, and they’re still playing for their popular deceased coach, Terry Hoeppner. They’ve got playmakers all over the field:

-Hardy (top), the best wide receiver in the country not named DeSean Jackson (that’s a toss-up).
-Lewis (bottom), who seems like Randle-El with a much better arm.
-Marcus Thigpen, great returner and slippery back.
-Two highly thought-of cornerbacks with girls’ names: Leslie Majors and Tracy Porter.
-A couple of other defensive playmakers in DE Greg Middleton and LB William Patterson.

Even with all that, I think we outscore them tomorrow and win. But look at the point totals they’ve given up this year:

Western Michigan 27; Akron 24; Illinois 27; Iowa 20; Minnesota 20; Michigan State 52; Penn State 36.

Actually, those numbers are sort of similar to the Badgers’ defensive numbers. If this is in Bloomington, I might be predicting an IU win, but we’ve gone back to winning most of the time in Madison.

I think Beckum has a big game, as do PJ and Smith. The big matchup is Ike and Carter against Hardy, we’ve got to hold him to one touchdown. And Mehlhaff has to get more of his kickoffs into the end zone than not, to keep the ball away from these dangerous returners.

Two good points from the Cap Times experts today: control the ball and keep it out of IU's playmakers' hands, and can Ike shut down Hardy like Jamar Fletcher shut down Plaxico Burress in 1999?

Prediction: UW 38, Indiana 34

Wisconsin-Northern Illinois/Mr. Belding thoughts

Love the Big Ten Network. Last night after watching Friday Night Lights on DVD, I turned on the BTN's Friday Night Tailgate to find the fat guy with glasses interviewing Dennis Haskins - Mr. Belding from Saved By the Bell - at Purdue. And let me tell you, Beldo is fat! I'll be he's put on 50 pounds since the SBTB salad days; the picture at right is from 2004, and he's even heavier now. Apparently Haskins tours college campuses encouraging students to pursue their dreams. Inspirational.

At the end of the interview, Haskins delivered a great line: "Jordan! My office, now!" Mike Hall, the host, follows up with "Now that is great journalism! I feel like listening to Kasey Kasem and dancing The Sprain." Made my night.

I also love the Big Ten Network because yesterday they showed the UW-Northern Illinois game, which I missed last Saturday. Northern is obviously in bad shape, so not too much to comment on, certainly nothing negative. Some thoughts:

-Glad to see Pressley getting some carries. No reason not to use the fullback to mix things up a bit, especially when he was a successful tailback in high school. Fullback dive was always a great play in old school Madden, a quick hitter for 3-4 yards.

-Another touchdown for Garrett Graham, who I predict will be an all-Big Ten tight end in two years.

-Loved PJ’s long TD run, and my favorite part: Kyle Jefferson maintaining a block on NIU’s safety that let PJ get beyond that last level, which he needs help to do. PJ went over 1,000 yards in the game, good to be back on that track, third year in a row with a 1,000-yard rusher.

-I think UW is really going to miss Jae McFadden against Indiana.

-Glad to see Mike Newkirk get a sack and three hurries. Seems like he’s really been struggling, and not because he’s not working hard, so to see him rewarded like that was nice.

-UW’s time of possession edge: 39:37 to 20:23. Wow.

-Nice game for DeAndre Levy with 2.5 tackles for loss. It’s easy to forget he led the team in sacks last year, but he’s an important part of the team’s pass rush. The Badgers had 10 TFL overall, very encouraging.

-Shane Carter obviously needs work tackling and angles, but he’s got great ball skills. I see him being a big part of trying to contain Hardy.

-Another penalty on Langford. Didn’t expect him to regress this season.

-Good line by Larrivee when they brought Alvarez in to the box in the third quarter: “And now someone who’s popular not only here but in Nebraska.” Barry chuckled and brushed it off, but that’s a legitimate issue. Let’s discuss next week.

UW-Illinois in-game thoughts

Had a feeling Mehlhaff was going to miss his first FG attempt today, no matter where it was from.

Can't win with this field position.

Have we been down by more than seven yet this year? The offense has done a great job answering scores, but not this year.

Carter not playing well again. Time to try Royston there?

They're selling out to stop the run - where are the play actions and screens?

Really like how DeCremer is playing, Levy too.

Defense again can't get off the field on third down - maybe the biggest difference between this year's team and last year's.

Their fullback makes a circus catch - oh my god - and they go up 17-0 next play. This is about to get ugly.

What an awesome catch by Beckum. Interesting that they seem to be covering him with Davis - good coaching move by Illinois. Even more so if Swan can't go in the second half.

Missed a couple plays. Any word on why Hodge isn't playing? Injuries, or just not a good matchup against this offense and personnel?

Badgers' defensive leadership

Will mentioned Jim Polzin's story today about the lack of leadership on the UW defense. It's a good read, and as questions came up while reading it Jim answered them later. My thought is that it's not so much about leadership as it is about experience - different things that come with playing a lot. Is it a lack of leadership when Hodge overruns pursuit of a ball carrier and leaves a cutback lane open, or when Carter takes a bad angle to a tackle? It's experience.

Either way, something along those lines is missing, and it wasn't missing last year even though Casillas, Levy, Ike and a couple others were starting for the first time.

UW D: A donut?

Coming into this season, the Badgers' defense figured to be really good -- the only lost four starters from a unit that had a great '06. But who would have thought Zalewski, Stellmacher, and Rodgers would be so hard to replace? This year's crew is soft in the middle -- if a middle is even present.

Granted, they were all good players and good leaders, but their replacements are making them look like Nitschke, Lott, and Reed.

Time after time today Hodge, Carter, and Pleasant have either overrun plays, got sucked into blockers, or flat-out missed tackles. This seems to be a continuance of trends seen in the first four games.

Hopefully the offense can outscore Sparty ... Pound the rock baby.

-Anyone else worried about the way this year is going for Ike? BB's comments to BB before halftime were very concerning.

-Good to see Mehlhaff kicking touchbacks again.

-Really entertaining interview with BB's mom ... not.