UW-Minnesota preview

It would be easy to look at this game, if you're a Badger fan, and be really confident. After all, UW ran for over 400 yards Saturday, and Minnesota has looked pretty mediocre the past few weeks while threatening to squander its 7-1 start and end up in a familiar bowl destination -- Detroit. What's more, their best player, Eric Decker, is out, which means Badger DBs don't necessarily have to wear cups.

Maybe it's the Bob Bummer in me, but I don't see this being a one-sided game. Here's why:

-Our success came against a severely depleted Indiana team. The confidence the offense took away from that game is big, but executing the same basic plays probably won't yield the same boffo results against Minnesota. I sure as hell don't expect David Gilreath to carry the ball eight times again.

-Much of Minnesota's early success this season came from forcing turnovers. We have been, to put it politely, turnover-prone this season. I'm penciling Dustin Sherer in for two interceptions, which may or may not be costly.

-As Clint Brewster was quick to remind Taylor Mehlhaff, last year the Gophers played us much closer than they should have, given how rotten they were. This leads me to believe that Tim Brewster, for as much crap I throw his way for being something of a used-car salesmen in football coach's gear, is an above-average motivator who isn't going to let his team's recent skid spiral out of control. Especially in what is arguably the biggest rivalry game for both schools.

-Decker's out, but they get Ralph Spry back.

-Their running game is showing life with this Eskridge guy. I'm worried about Jae McFadden, who said he's ready to play Indiana tomorrow. Dude, check that concussion again. The defense ain't the same with Culmer St. Jean in the middle.

Still think we're going to win, but unlike previous Wisconsin-Minnesota games at Camp Randall, think it's going to be close. Unlike last year, we seem to have an idea of what to do against the Spread, which is nice. I don't see it being the high-scoring affair common in this series this century.

Wisconsin 20, Minnesota 16

UW-Fresno State thoughts ... yeaaaaaaah!

Charlie is set to be baptized in about 10 hours, and that's probably what I'll remember about this weekend for the rest of my life, but ...

What a great win! Billy Rentmeester with the save!

We beat a really good team in front of their hostile crowd in THE BIGGEST GAME IN SCHOOL HISTORY! So Fresno State fans can take all those cute little T-shirts they had made up for the game and use them to clean the kitchen next week.

I'll be honest: for the last hour in my head I've been writing, in my head, a rant about the preposterous overturned fumble call. More on that later. But now, thankfully, I'll focus on the positive, with an emphasis on the second half.

-Did you notice how we switched things up on kickoffs? In the last one of the first half it only went to about the 25, fielded by Fresno's up back. In the first kickoff of the second half, Fresno's returners moved up and Philip Welch kicked it into the end zone. Maybe this is how we have to do things without Taylor Mehlhaff's big leg.

-Did you notice how on several plays Chris Pressley started out split wide, then moved back to his customary fullback spot? Who are we trying to kid with that initial formation? He ain't going anywhere on a passing route lined up out there.

-On Devon Wylie's touchdown the announcers harped on Casillas for missing a tackle, but I thought Jay Valai's was worse. But Valai played a good game overall — Bear never got off, and Jay made some nice plays around the line of scrimmage. Any game in which I'm not making many notes about the secondary is a good game.

-Everyone will be raving about Fresno blocking another punt, but that one was on Brad Nortman dropping the snap, which was fine. He catches it cleanly, they don't block it. The defense made a great stand after the blocked punt.

-Did you hear ESPN2's Joe Tessitore's orgasm after that blocked punt? Embarrassing.

-Kraig Urbik was offside twice in the second half, and I thought we were dangerously close to completely losing our composure, but we kept it just enough to persevere.

-A disturbing trend in the second half was not running or throwing to receivers at first down yardage on third down.

-That punt that bounced into their blocker was the big break we needed to get over the hump in the second half. Rod Gilmore's comment afterward was classic: "That play is essentially a turnover." You think?

-That option that Evridge ran deep in Fresno territory was a curious call, although he ran it relatively effectively. But there was a holding call on it, not surprising.

-Bringing in Clay when we did was a nice move, but why not keep feeding him the rock? He ran well in his limited chances. A tough 112 yards for P.J. as well, he ran with authority behind some stubborn blocking.

-When Wylie fumbled, you could hear palpable disappointment in Tessitore's voice. I then wrote down "Really stupid challenge by Pat Hill." Who knew.

You know why teams don't want to play you at Fresno, Pat? It's because of refereeing like that overturned fumble. That was so clearly a fumble it was not even close. All three announcers certainly thought so, as would any impartial viewer. Unless you can get neutral-conference officials for a matchup like this, you run the risk of officiating deciding the outcome.

Which it almost did tonight. Not only did Fresno get three points, but we were deprived of the ball deep in their territory. Then, we clipped on the ensuring kickoff return, putting us in bad field position.

After Fresno kicked the field goal, Tessitore said, disappointedly, like his dog has rabies: "And Wisconsin holds."

BCS teams ought to think long and hard before scheduling games either at WAC schools or using WAC officials.

Tessitore: "Finally a home game break for Pat Hill!" Hooray for horrible officiating!

Thankfully that's the end of my rant, rather than my entire game recap.

-Evridge and Kyle Jefferson were not on the same page tonight. Allan looked Kyle's way several times but they never came close to a completion. It would be nice to have KJ's deep play threat going into Big Ten play.

-Won't say much about Evridge's cramping until I hear more about it. But what about Jae McFadden's club on his right hand? What was that about? He wasn't in on as many tackles as he has been the first two weeks, wonder if that was a factor.

-What a great punt by Fresno to pin us deep late.

-But what a time for Billy Rentmeester to have the biggest run of his career! It was certainly unexpected, but the type of contribution that can turn a good season into a great season.

I'm exhausted, and will be up with Charlie soon for a middle of the night feeding, so I'd better wrap it up. But again, great win, and I'd like to think this keeps us in the top 10 for at least two more weeks. More to come Sunday.

New NFL Badgers

Congratulations to Jack Ikegwuonu, Taylor Mehlhaff, Paul Hubbard and Nick Hayden, who became the latest former Badgers to be selected by NFL teams.

Ike went in the fourth round to Philadelphia. The Eagles have two good corners in Lito Sheppard and Asante Samuel, but it seems like Sheppard wants out of Philly. Doesn't matter much for this year, since Ike isn't going to play while he's rehabbing his injured knee. The Eagles have been pretty successful drafting and grooming cornerbacks over the years — then letting them go in free agency. Ike landed in a good spot, hopefully his injury and off-field issues don't inhibit him from reaching his professional potential.

Checking the Saints' depth chart, it appears that Martin Gramatica is the lone kicker in New Orleans right now. God, I hope Taylor beats out out that little brat! Apparently Gramatica kicked pretty well in the Saints' last three games last season, and was expected to compete with Olindo Mare for the kicking job. If Mehlhaff can stick, what a great place to start his career — a dome. Ryan Longwell's whining for years about the advantages dome kickers have may have turned off some fans (read: me), but he's right.

Hubbard's going to have an uphill battle to win a job in Cleveland, which led by Joe Thomas had a terrific offense last season. Braylon Edwards is the go-to guy at wideout, they recently acquired Donte Stallworth, and Joe Jurevicius is a good #3. Paul will have to beat out the likes of Tim Carter, Josh Cribbs, and Travis Wilson for a job. It'll help if he can show value as a special teams player.

The Panthers came into the draft looking to address their defensive line, but didn't take a D-Lineman until Hayden in the sixth round. So that bodes well for his chances of sticking. Carolina's other guys at defensive tackle are Damione Lewis, Steve Williams, and Ma'ake Kemoeatu; their ends are Julius Peppers, Tyler Brayton, Charles Johnson, and Stanley McClover. So basically, Peppers and a bunch of nobodies. It'll be interesting to see if Hayden can stick at tackle, since he weighs less than 300 pounds.

Just read that the Packers signed Ken DeBauche, who we saw at Crazylegs yesterday. Don't figure he'll make the team, but it will be good for him to get in an NFL camp and show what he can do; guys bounce around so much at those kicking positions that you just need to impress one team. And Luke Swan signed with the Chiefs. Here's hoping Marcus Coleman gets a shot with someone.

Which of these Badgers ended up in the best situation?

And in other news, Jim Leonhard signed with Baltimore after spending his first three seasons in Buffalo.

Badger draft busts and steals

With Crazylegs approaching Saturday, it must be time for the NFL Draft. Not much going on Badger-wise on the first day, unless someone reaches for Taylor Mehlhaff. Paul Hubbard, Nick Hayden and maybe Jack Ikegwuonu are other possibilities to be picked, and I wouldn't bet against Luke Swan signing a free agent contract.

For as terrific as our program has been over the past 15 years, we have still turned out our fair share of stinkers. Mr. Man, a frequent excellent commenter on Badgercentric, today had a post on his blog, Camp Lambeau, about a site called Football Outsiders that ranked the biggest draft busts from 200-2003, among many interesting lists.

Wendell Bryant and Chris McIntosh head the list of busts. Hard to argue, unfortunately. Wendell, a fan favorite who is responsible for so many fond memories from his college days, seemed to party his way out of the league, and Mac was hurt a lot. You could argue that among recent first rounders, Aaron Gibson (if the list started a year earlier) and Jamar Fletcher belong on this list, although they managed to stick around and contribute more than the other two guys.

On the bright side, Chris Chambers is on the list of top 10 second and third round steals, and Mark Tauscher on the list of top 10 second day steals. Both very deserving.

Cal Poly who?

So the Badgers' 2008 football schedule is complete, as Cal Poly replaces Virginia Tech. Sigh. The first thing that came to mind was that Cal Poly sounds like a punchline - you know, "Wow, great win for Marquette last night, they beat Cal Poly School for Blind Albinos by six at the Bradley Center in their holiday classic." But Cal Poly is a good I-AA team, probably better than The Citadel last year, and we have to make sure they don't become an Appalachian State punchline for us.

Bielema's rationale is sound. Opening Big Ten play with Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State will be brutal. If we end up winning the conference next year because of this move, terrific. I've got my doubts about that likelihood, although that's how most of our special seasons have started before.

But my first reaction was this: I would rather lose a good game to Virginia Tech than beat Cal Poly. Of course I'd rather beat Virginia Tech, but the point is that Badger fans are hungry for a big game outside of the conference and outside our bowl game. Think about some of the recent high-profile non-conference games: Ohio State-Texas, LSU-Virginia Tech, USC-Nebraska. It's not hard to come up with others. Those are games that get your blood pumping, get ABC in town for prime time Saturday night broadcasts, get the GameDay crew in town in September.

To be the best, you have to beat the best, and while the Big Ten has some of the best around - Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State are surely more of a brand name in college football than Virginia Tech - it's a given that we'll play them every year. Bowl games are exciting because you get to test yourself again different conferences and players from different regions. We see it more often in college hoops, but regular season losses don't mean as much there.

We'll see the Hokies in 2016 ... hopefully.

-The Journal Sentinel's Bob McGinn is at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and filed a report on the Badgers' draft candidates. In a nutshell: Mehlhaff has looked good and could potentially be the first kicker drafted; Hubbard did everything well but catch the ball (oh, is that all?); Ike is looking at a big mountain to climb; Hayden benched 225 pounds 34 times, about what I do, and was working out today. Anyone caught these guys on the NFL Network yet?

Shrine Game notes

The East-West Shrine Game was held in Houston last night, and I caught bits and pieces of it during basketball commercials. Paul Hubbard, Nick Hayden, and Taylor Mehlhaff played in the game. Hubbard had two catches for 25 yards, Mehlhaff kicked 28- and 42-yard field goals.

Houston Chronicle blogger Lance Zierlein was very complimentary of Hayden and Hubbard in his practice notes.

- I continue to be impressed with Wisconsin DT Nick Hayden. The guy has a phenomenal motor. He's not a big guy despite being at right around 300, but would be a good rotation player in a 1-gap system as he is a mother bleeper in the gaps. He uses his hands great. He might also potentially be a good 3-4 DE as well. - Wisconsin WR Paul Hubbard is the WR with the most buzz and has clearly helped his stock this week. Scouts have been impressed with his size and quickness and I think he'll lock in on the 3rd round.

The SFGate Niner Insider blog also mentioned Hayden and Hubbard.

-Wisconsin receiver Paul Hubbard made a tough catch in traffic but then limped off the field. He's got size (6-3, 218) and speed.

-Wisconsin defensive tackle Nick Hayden put a great spin move on and nearly got to O'Connell.

Wow, nice praise for both. Earlier in the week ESPN's Todd McShay had praise for the job Hayden was doing against Michigan's Adam Kraus.

I saw Hayden as a fifth-seventh rounder, and Hubbard as a fringe pick, although both should have good measurables. My prediction is that of these three guys and Ike, Mehlhaff will have the best professional career, even if he does not get drafted.

Wisconsin-Tennessee halftime thoughts

All in all, pretty happy to be down only seven at halftime. We really haven't done anything to slow down their offense, and we've been inconsistent with the ball. If Donovan can survive one more half we have a shot at this thing.

-Really going to miss Mehlhaff's kickoffs, that's been a real positive for this team for four years.

-Could you get a worse person to announce your starting lineup than Heath Shuler? Yes - Matt Kenseth. Would have been nice if someone had gone over Ike's name with him beforehand.

-O'Brien Schofield did in fact start at defensive end, but hasn't done much. Will be interesting to see if he or Kirk DeCremer starts there next year.

-In the second half, watch how far Erik Ainge sets up in the shotgun, might be a reason he doesn't get sacked often.

-On that note: we're not getting any pressure on Ainge, so why not drop eight guys and make them beat you six yards passing at a time?

-Jae McFadden and Josh Nettles both should have had picks very early; had they, it would have dramatically changed the complexion of the game.

-Interesting end-around call to Lance Smith, that usually goes to a receiver. Reminded me of watching Dan Pallante's Wing-T at Fremont Ross.

-Did you see the two men in motion penalty that wiped out Brown's touchdown run? I didn't.

-Nice first half for Garrett Graham - four catches, 37 yards, and a nice box-out block on Donovan's touchdown run.

-What a stupid call by the Vols to run that trick play. They were moving the ball at will without trickery. Interesting concept for a trick play, though.

-Donovan has to go down as one of the toughest players in Badgers history, we'll miss that. He's taken a lot of vicious hits; not sure if they're dirty or not - they seem so at first, but replays make them just look like hard hits - but Bielema's lobbying that they were resulted in a nice 15-yard penalty in our favor on the last touchdown drive. Really don't want to see Evridge taking snaps until the spring game.

-P.J. Hill is clearly our best running back today. He's running quicker and getting a better lean than Zach Brown.

-Great drive to end the first half, really needed that to have a chance. Beautiful play call by Chryst on Crooks' first catch of the year.

-During a commercial I flipped on the Cotton Bowl and heard an overmatched announcer wading through the Arkansas starting defense. Pat Summerall is back! Why?!

Should be a good second half between two evenly matched teams. It's going to come down to halftime adjustments, specifically Can we stop their passing game?

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.

Minnesota football: A program in shambles under Tim Brewster

Conversely, if you're a Gopher football fan, there's not much to be excited about, even after a spirited effort by an overmatched group on Saturday. In his first year as coach, Tim Brewster has led Minnesota to a giant step backward, turning a program that was competitive and excellent in many areas under Glen Mason into something resembling other big-city sports "entertainment" where the game is secondary to the hoopla surrounding it. They also played with a lack of maturity and discipline resembling Miami's late '80s teams, only with 5% of the talent.

To that end, let's take two examples that were well detailed in Jim Polzin's Capital Times story last night.

-... UW senior kicker Taylor Mehlhaff was heading over to congratulate Minnesota counterpart Joel Monroe on a great game when he was approached by Clint Brewster (right), the son of the Gophers coach and a freshman quarterback on the team.

According to Mehlhaff, Clint Brewster said: "You guys are terrible. … We're 1-10 and we should have beat you.''

"I just couldn't believe he said that,'' added Mehlhaff, who made two field goals Saturday but missed as many (two) as he had all season. "I was giving their guys high-fives … and telling them good game. I just couldn't believe anyone would come up and be like that.

"And then he said, 'How many kicks did you miss today?' That's pretty bold. I just said, 'I've got to go celebrate (with) the axe.' ''

Very classy, Clint. I remember two years ago, after the Gophers' gut-wrenching loss to UW in the dome, Laurence Maroney warmly embracing Brandon Williams (both St. Louis guys). That was how this rivalry should play out - fight hard, then a big hug. Our schools and states are pretty similar, records aside, and this should be one of those mutual respect deals. We'll see if the Brewsters can learn that.

-Another thing players that mutually respect one another don't do is punch their opponents in the testicles. From Jim's story:

Bielema revealed the Mehlhaff/Clint Brewster exchange during his postgame news conference and also said he was bothered by an incident between Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker and UW cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu during the game. In the second quarter, Decker appeared to punch Ikegwuonu in the groin area while blocking him, causing Ikegwuonu to leave the game for a play.

Thing is, Decker (above) played really well Saturday, clearly getting the best of Ike, and this totally wipes that out. The Minnesota papers made a big deal out of the fact that Ike head-butted Decker at another juncture. Well, let me tell you, getting punched in the balls hurts more.

-The dome atmosphere resembled a Mike Veeck production. Fireworks. Loud piped-in music. A tire race in the end zone, the winner getting a 6-inch sub! Two drunks running through tackling dummies and doing end zone dances. People throwing Nerf footballs from the upper deck and end zone targets. Apparently, Brewster has decided the residents of Gopher Nation don't want Big Ten football, they want minor league baseball.

-And that's another thing - Gopher Nation? They can't even sell out the dome for the Wisconsin game! Most Minnesota fans left after we went up 41-27, and missed a really excited long touchdown pass. They still had a chance with a minute left. Gotta beat the traffic though. Gopher Nation? Better work on convincing the Twin Cities first, Timmy.

-One thing that stood out during the pregame festivities was the number of aggressively anti-UW shirts worn by Gopher fans. "Better dead than red." "Bucky Badger is a whore." "Buck the Fadgers." Now, I realize that similar anti-UM shirts for Badger fans probably exist, but I didn't see any Saturday, the logical time to wear them.

You know what those shirts are the sign of? An inferiority complex. You know how I know? Because those are exactly the kind of shirts we've worn (okay, I've worn) to denigrate Michigan, as they've beaten us year after year. So yeah, it's a rivalry, but it's so one-sided that the perennial loser resorts to conjuring up images of death, sexual indiscretion, and implied cuss words.

Last night when I first heard about all this crap the Gophers pulled during game, I was madder than a wet hen. Eric Decker punched Jack Ikegwuonu in the nuts!

This morning, though, with the emotions of the day worn off and a little perspective, I just feel bad for Gopher fans. Brewster could end up being a good coach, and I'm not writing him off yet. But the scene we witnessed yesterday indicated that even if he brings in some of those four-star recruits that fans are hyperventilating about, Brewster has a lot to learn about controlling his players, creating a college football environment, and winning ballgames.

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-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

UW-Illinois postgame thoughts

Just got back from my weekly post-game run around the beautiful village of Scandinavia, where, swear to God, I came within 5 feet of getting trampled by a family of four deer:

-The 14-game winning streak is over, let's stand back and enjoy it. What a great run! The kids showed guts coming back on the road, and had a shot near the end. Let's face it: no one in the Big Ten is as good as Ohio State or Michigan (or even Wisconsin) were last year, so we're still in it. Lot of football to be played.

-Illinois is good, and will definitely factor in the conference race. But their lack of a passing game will eventually cost them. Beyond "Regis" Benn - what a terrible nickname - they've got nothing, and Benn didn't even do much today.

-But, the Illini can really run the ball. Juice is a terrific runner, and ripped off a couple big ones today. Mendenhall is every bit as good as I thought. For all the big runs he had today, the most important in my mind was the 3-1/2-yard run after they recovered our onside kick late - he should have been stopped for 1 yard, but kept his legs churning for a few more yards, and McGee gets the first down by a foot on fourth down. Game over.

-Once again, we can't stop the spread. Got a text message from Scooter Burch during the game: "Blog topic: our defense has no nuts, this is like watching the Holy Angels Royals tackle Scott Tappa." Ah, 1989, what a year for the 0-5 St. Frances Cabrini Warriors and their finesse tight end. But seriously, if I were an opposing offensive coordinator, I would put in a spread package the week before playing the Badgers.

Side note for Burch: As I type this, "Dreams" from Van Halen comes on the radio. Sign of good things to come? Well, the last 100 times we've said that it hasn't happened ...

-Donovan had a nice game. I like him much more than I thought, he can throw the ball, and he avoid sacks better than anyone since Bollinger, maybe better. But his relative lack of arm strength showed up several times in the second half, on one incompletion to Gilreath and his two interceptions. Can't get away with that against a good secondary. Juice, on the other hand, has a big arm but needs to work on accuracy, or his receivers aren't getting open.

-I thought the announcers, Dave Pasch and Andre Ware, were good, like good refs - you didn't notice them much - except for when they kept insisting Beckum's awesome catch was an incompletion. I thought it was a catch, or at the worst the replay was not conclusive enough to overturn. (Funny comment from Olson on Erin Andrews, who unfortunately was a relative non-factor today.)

-Well-officiated game, didn't see any horribly blown calls.

-Last week I made a comment about our depth being better. This week the losses caught up with us. From the preseason roster, today we were missing Cooper, Hubbard, Hodge, Swan, Ware (?), Smith, and PJ had a groin problem today. Good job hanging in playing that many backups.

-In this morning's MJS Potrykus made a reference to the Badgers' little mistakes, and they showed up again today with some ill-timed penalties. Not the reason we lost, though.

-Consider these three plays: Mehlhaff misses a 38-yard FG, their kicker makes a 50-yard FG, and we miss on a two-point conversion. That's a seven-point swing in a game we lost by five. Those plays and decisions have gone our way the past 14 games.

-This team reminds me of the team two years ago. Ever since BB arrived we've been less points-more points-less points-more points every other years. If you need a full explanation of that last sentence, ask someone who sat through Tucson Monsoon '04. Thought this year we would put it all together.

-We have the best group of tight ends in the country. Beckum is awesome, best TE in the country, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him play strictly at wideout if/while Hubbard and Swan are out. Graham, Turner, and Crooks are a good trio themselves, Graham is an NFL player in the making.

-Another big time of possession advantage today, which is both positive (good ball control offense) and negative (defense gives up lots of big plays).

-A week after telling a co-worker about how reliable DirecTV is, I lost reception twice today, including on Illinois's drive after the onside kick. Something about sun outages. Hmmm.

Prediction recap:
-Jefferson has a big game - 65 yards, 1 TD, big enough.
-PJ is going to carry the ball 40 times - nope, half that, that's what happens when we play from behind.
-Any runs that aren't from PJ will come from Gilreath or Beckum on end-arounds, and if they go single back when PJ is resting, it'll be Pressley or Rentmeester as the lone back for pass protection - 100% wrong.
-Crooks is back this week, should help the running game, should be an upgrade over Mickey Turner - didn't see any evidence of that.
-Ike has a shutdown game - on Benn? - pass defense was good, Benn had only 51 yards receiving.
-Casillas does a good job shadowing Juice Williams, but Hodge and the safeties struggle to contain Mendenhall. - no one contained Juice (92 yards rushing) and no one contained Mendenhall (160 yards).
-Wisconsin 26, Illinois 22 - wrong, but for a minute there the final could have been 26-24, which I would have been damn happy with.

At least, checking uwbadgers.com, I see the volleyball team won last night ...

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?

UW-MSU thoughts

My first thought, as it was after the Iowa game, was that we survived. In the postgame, LePay said "Survive and advance," which is exactly what this is, especially when you look at all the other top 10 upsets.

-MSU is better than I thought, but for all the talk about how they're more disciplined under Dantonio, several mental breakdowns on the decisive UW field goal drive ended up being the difference.

-Mehlhaff and DeBauche are reminiscent of Stemke and Money/Pisetsky, true difference-makers in the kicking game. Hope we can replace them next year.

-Here's the difference between the program today and five years ago: depth. Think about all the guys missing today: Ike, Hubbard, Valai, Crooks, Randle-El, Jefferson, Graham for a time, Chapman was dinged up, as was Urbik. Yet the replacements made enough plays to win. The drop-off to the reserves is not as great as it once was.

-Evridge is going to need to play this year. Donovan is taking a lot of shots. I like his guts.

-Randle-El needs to leave the program. He talks about being a leader, but he pulls stuff like that asinine punching match today. He's coasting by on his name.

-Nice job by the defense on the last two plays. I was praying they wouldn't throw at Strickland, but he jumped that slant nicely. And everyone sniffed out the final play and stopped it - finally!

-Vanden Heuvel did a nice job on Saint-Dic.

-My guess is that without Smith next week, the change of pace running plays will be end-arounds from Gilreath and Beckum.

-Great hustle by Casillas to run down Ringer, a drive that ended with a field goal. Reminded me of Ike running down McFadden in the Cap One Bowl.

-Pretty good pass rush today. Hayden is playing better this year, and DeCremer is a great addition to the rotation.

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.

Iowa game thoughts

First of all, screw aesthetics, and all those smarmy comments from Herbstreit during the broadcast about poor offense. Those were two good defenses who had the other team's number last night, nothing to be ashamed of. Here are my observations:

1. That inopportune fumble aside, this was PJ's best game yet, with last year's Penn State game a close second. Really, he ran effectively all night. But after the offense started so quickly on those two play-action passes on the first two plays of the game, I think Paul Chryst fell a little to in love with the passing game, and Donovan has the bruises to prove it.

2. Iowa's offense is one of the worst I've ever seen in the Big Ten, and I don't think it would have made a difference had Moeaki and Brodell not gotten hut. Couldn't be happier that Albert Young, who gave a late de-commitment from UW before turning to Iowa, never had a good game against the Badgers in his college career. Christenson is nowhere near the last three QBs Iowa has started, and even though he was a touted recruit I'm not sure the potential is there.

3. No one's throwing at Ike - Langford is going to get a lot of chances at picks this year.

4. Did the safeties make any plays yesterday, aside from Pleasant's facemask?

5. The offense's early struggles were just what DeBauche needed - he looked like himself for the first time this season.

6. After playing these Mickey Mouse spread offenses three straight week, it was a pleasure to line up and play against a team that ran a man's offense. the D, especially Hodge, looked soooo much more comfortable.

7. That hit on Gilreath to start the second half was among the most vicious I've seen a Badger take over the years, great hit by the Iowa guy.

8. Lance Smith ran well again. I have this sinking feeling that his suspension is going to cost us at either Ohio State or Penn State.

9. What happened to Mehlhaff kicking touchbacks like he did in the opener? His shank at the end of the first half was partially responsible for the huge momentum swing.

10. Soooooo happy to be beating Iowa again. Ferentz and his staff do a great job, and for awhile there Iowa had staked a claim to being the #3 program in the Big Ten. And they were signing great recruiting classes, much better than the guys they were going 10-2 with. But for whatever reason we seem to have reclaimed that role - never going to have the tradition or national recruiting as Ohio State or Michigan, but are always right there to step up when they struggle.

Watched most of the second half in the kitchen last night, might have to start out there next week ...