Wisconsin-Northern Illinois thoughts

Phew. That was a lot closer than it had to be. Was it just me, or were you all having flashbacks to last year after Schofield's forced fumble was not allowed to be reviewed? The sequence of events that followed seemed straight out of last year's script -- penalty keeps drive alive for other team, special teams breakdown ... thank goodness for another nice Schofield play and Chris Maragos closing things out.

Northern's OK, but I'm guessing they're not as good as they were last year when they almost beat Minnesota and Tennessee. Hopefully they'll get to a bowl and make our win look better.

-We dominated the game for three quarters. The third quarter was just about perfect. Then we didn't finish. It might get overlooked, but here's a cause for concern: Philip Welch missed both his field goal attempts. The first one was rather long, but the second was one he should make. He makes that second on and it's not so tense at the end.

-Tolzien will get the headlines, but for my money Schofield was the player of the game for us. He was always around the ball, in Northern's backfield, in coverage. The final defensive stats will be kind to him. Great start for a captain.

-Tolzien showed the starting job should be his. His first pick wasn't really his fault, although the second one was. Otherwise I thought he played really well, much better than I'd expected. Liked how he stood in against blitzes. Showed decisiveness that was missing from our QBs last year.

The nice thing is, Phillips showed he deserves playing time, too, and it wasn't because Tolzien was struggling. Phillips showed what we thought he'd show, nice mobility. The threat of him running several possessions out of the Spread every game is great because it forces our opponents to spend time preparing for it. If they don't, Curt can break some big gains.

-Thought the running game was pretty blah. Maybe Northern will prove to have a really good run defense. Maybe we were missing Moffitt and Nagy. Brown looked sharp early but couldn't sustain it. Clay looked sluggish early but showed a nice nose for the end zone. Neither one got to 50 yards or 4 yards per carry, a concern.

-Nice game by Garrett Graham, as expected. No passes thrown to Lance Kendricks, unexpected.

-We hit hard tonight, lot of times when our kids blew up a Northern player, sometimes knocking off their helmets. Devin Smith had a nice one on a kickoff return.

-Chris Martin of the Big Ten Network is still trying too hard. He made some UPS-related Brown quip after NIU's running back had a nice run, and tried to tie in Zach Brown, and it made little sense. You could tell he'd been working on it for about a month, and it was lame. Still talking about "linear" receivers.

-Did you notice the new uniform wrinkle, the little Motion W on the back above the name? It's not awful, but I'd rather it not be there, it's not necessary.

-What in the world was Ron Dayne wearing during his interview with Charissa Thompson? One really bad leisure athletic jacket, one that my mom hopefully won't get me for Christmas.

-A key to us building that lead was the defense's ability to get off the field on third down. The inability to do so at the end is what let Northern back in. Obvious, I know, but doing a better job closing the deal is a must, whether it's a whole game or a single drive.

-Saw Mike Taylor back in the game, that was good. Chris Borland played a lot and was definitely a factor, awesome for a true freshman to step up like that.

-Our kids really did a poor job on the onside kick. Northern's kicker hit it perfectly, but it seemed like we only had one guy step forward to try to grab it, while Northern had three or four right there. Add that to the two missed field goals and another game of mostly lackluster returns, and the special teams remain anything but.

After the third quarter, I was really hoping for a 35-6 final score, or something like that, to show that we're a team capable of tossing around a bowl team (even if it's from the MAC). The final score is not a perfect reflection of how this game went, but hey, a win's a win. There are things to work on, but there are a lot of things to like. I'll sleep easy tonight.

Wisconsin-Northern Illinois halftime thoughts

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

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

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

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

Other thoughts:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Regarding Twitter and the games ...

Is it worthwhile for me to post updates to Twitter during Badger games?

My thought is no, no one's going to read my Tweets while there's a game going on. But I don't know, maybe if I'm really mad or excited and other people are feeling the same way it would be cathartic, like you're yelling at the TV along with me.

Whatever, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/scotttappa.

How excited are you?

For the past couple weeks lots of people have asked me how I'm feeling about the upcoming season. On an excitement scale of 1 to 10, I'm about a 6.

On the one hand, I think our offense will be fun to watch, and there's a lot of upside to the young guys we have playing there. Clay and Brown at running back. Toon and the gang at wideout. The line. Let's see how good Tolzien is. Can Phillips work his way into more snaps?

On the other hand, as much as I'm looking forward to seeing the new guys on defense, last year's defense was underwhelming, and a lot of those guys were experienced, talented, multi-year starters. Can we really expect to improve, or at least maintain?

On the one hand, when my expectations for a season are muted, we've had a history of responding with very pleasant efforts. 2005 comes to mind.

On the other hand, we could very well lose to Northern Illinois tomorrow night. Wofford? Hell, Cal Poly almost beat us last year, and The Citadel hung 31 on us at Camp Randall two years ago. And I'm going into the season counting on losing to Minnesota, which obviously isn't good.

So the college football bug hasn't bitten me as hard this year as in most years, but I tell you what: I was in the bathroom the other night and heard an ad on TV for tomorrow's Virginia Tech-Alabama game and got excited. I stayed up late (for me anyway) to watch Boise State and Oregon play last night in the battle of terrible home field vs. terrible uniforms. At about 10 a.m. tomorrow I'll be wishing I was in Madison.

6? Make it a 7.

Game by game

At first blush, this year's schedule seems like a favorable one for the Badgers. Mixed emotions on that. On one hand, they appear to be down this year, and an easier schedule will soften the blow. On the other hand -- wouldn't it be nice if this was a great Badger team that was able to ride a soft schedule to a BCS bowl? Ain't gonna happen.

Here's my take on the game-by-game progression of this season, without trying to fit any preconceived overall finishing record.

Northern Illinois, win. NIU's not terrible, but if we can't pull this one out, you probably won't be reading much new on this blog from day to day.

Fresno State, win. Should be a good test, but one we should pass. Fair or not, we handled them at their place last year in The Biggest Game In Fresno State History, and they lost some key guys from that team.

Wofford, win. Pretty good team, hopefully not as good as Cal Poly. Did I just write that? Sheesh.

Michigan State, win. Sparty isn't beating itself any more -- we played that role to a T in Lansing last year -- but although they're the logical choice to finish third in the Big Ten this year, they don't seem like world beaters to me.

at Minnesota, loss. We seem to be just about equal this year, and home field will tip this one in Goldy's favor. Trust me, I will not be watching Brew run across the field to grab the Axe.

at Ohio State, loss. They're just too good. Would like to see some guys make some plays and gain some confidence in this one, even in a loss.

Iowa, loss. They're just better than us this year, even though I don't think they're a BCS-caliber team.

Purdue, win. These guys are terrible, too bad what Joe Tiller built fell apart. Good opponent to face after three straight losses.

at Indiana, win. Could there be a less exciting place to play football in Division 1?

Michigan, win. They'll be a little bit better this year, but not much. Unless they keep practicing 40 hours a week, we should take this one.

at Northwestern, loss. As much as I have disliked this team over the past decade-plus, I have great admiration for Pat Fitzgerald and the job he is doing there. As far as young head coaches go, he is without peer.

at Hawaii, win. God, I hope a bowl berth isn't riding on this one.

The wins I'm least sure of are Michigan State and Michigan, we could easily drop either of those. If this team is better than expected, Minnesota, Iowa, and Northwestern could be wins. If this team is worse than expected, and happens to drop a non-conference game, even Purdue and Indiana look dicey.

So that's 8-4. Let's say that lands us in the Alamo Bowl, against Kansas. They beat us and we finish 8-5.

Would you be happy with that?

Travis Frederick

Last fall when Big Foot played Wautoma for the Division 4 championship, I zeroed in on Travis Frederick. He looked enormous, which wasn't really a surprise, and fairly mobile, but it was still hard to get a read on how his size and skills would translate to Division 1 college ball.



Pretty well, it seems. Now Frederick is being mentiond in the same breath as Cory Raymer, Bob Winckler, and Dennis Lick. Not bad company.


With John Moffitt still laid up we'll get a chance to see how good this kid is right away. I expect he'll struggle at times, but how often is that painfully obvious with a center? Unless Northern Illinois has the MAC version of Albert Haynesworth, I bet he holds his own.


With Moffitt, Bill Nagy, and Gabe Carimi all missing time this camp because of injuries, guys like Frederick and Kevin Zeitler are getting a lot of reps. That can only help the O-Line's depth, and here's the best thing: all 10 guys on the two-deep return next year. If things go right we could be looking at one of those really, really good Badger lines.

Guys I'm excited about seeing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hair

When A.J. Fenton committed to Wisconsin, my first thought was "Man, I like his look." Figuring he was going prematurely bald, he chose to stay ahead of the game and shave his head.


Apparently, though, he has no problem growing hair, as his official freshman mug shot shows. Now, instead of an imposing linebacker, he looks like a mid-'80s phy ed teacher.


Whenever Will talks about cutting his hair like Daddy, I encourage him to grow it long while he's still able ... but how can that be comfortable in a helmet during two-a-days, A.J.?

Blogger roundtable: Defense

OK, this is about a month overdue, and some of the responses might seem a little dated, but ... thanks to Adam Hoge for putting this together.

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?

On Wisconsin: Yeah, 5 years since Anttaj and Erasmus, but harder to believe for me is that Chapman and Shaughnessy never became true beasts on the line. They had so much promise early. Schofield is solid (led the team in sacks last season) and everyone is excited about Watt, but it's all based on practice so far. I want to believe in him, but I'm a little nervous. I'm concerned about our size everywhere and Moore really should be an end (where he would probably be very good), but we should have speed on the edges. I don't know who the solid tackles-to-be are, but with Nzegwu, Mains, and Westphal, there is plenty of young talent ready to step up on the ends. We'll need it.

BadgerCentric: 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 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 Schofield 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.

Hoops Marinara: It's a shame Erasmus and Co. flamed out in the NFL. Maybe they weren't that great after all. In 2009, the Badgers look weak up the middle and that spells trouble. I like O'Brien Schofield, who seems like he should be the emotional leader on the unit. Again, I like the younger guys UW has backing up the end positions, but inside is a question mark.

Bucky’s 5th Quarter: You have to be careful from what comes out of Camp Randall in the off-season because a lot of it can be propaganda. But I must say I am a little more optimistic about the defensive line than I was in the spring. After talking with O’Brien Schofield, I must say he seems like a solid leader and he’s determined to have a good year. If J.J. Watt blossoms like he is supposed to, I think Brendan Kelly and Louis Nzegwu do enough to make this a solid line.

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?

On Wisconsin: I think the linebackers are the scariest group. First, Sorenson looked S-L-O-W in the spring. I'm pulling for Taylor if only because Sorenson either isn't fast enough or didn't care enough to try harder. I think St. Jean played pretty well when he had his chances last season, so we have two solid starters, but who's backing them up? That's where the loss of Hodge as a solid, contributing second-stringer really hurt. We've heard some positives about Megna, Rouse, and Hubbard, but we haven't seen it yet. Bottom line: I'm worried. Really worried.

BadgerCentric: Yes, very. Don't want to join the chorus questioning Sorensen, 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. Wh

Hoops Marinara: Sorensen certainly has a lot of expectations to fulfill, but I think along with Culmer St. Jean and J. McFadden they can form a decent group. No one will accuse them of being as athletic as last year's group -- Casillas and Levy were two of the best athletes at that position that Wisconsin has seen. But what the Badgers really need is simply a group that knows how to tackle well. I don't want every draw play that gets past the line going for 6 ... can we get another Donnel Thompson in this bunch, please?!

Bucky’s 5th Quarter: I’m excited about McFadden in the middle, but very worried about the other two spots. Culmer St. Jean has never really put it all together and Sorensen didn’t exactly take advantage of his opportunities in the spring. It should be interesting to see what Mike Taylor can do. If he has a good camp, this will be the most fun defensive position battle over the next month.

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?

On Wisconsin: I think they are a strength, but that's relative to the near total unknown of the front 7. Especially at safety, I worry about making that critical tackle. As much as Valai can lay the wood (needs to watch the head-to-head stuff, though), he missed his fair share of tackles last season. That's been Carter's problem all along, which is why Maragos will probably start at free safety. At corner Henry will be fine. I'm glad they decided to keep him out all of last season to truly let him heal. Niles Brinkley played fine last season, and I'm hoping Fenelus and Smith are coming along as well as advertised. But hope is not a method.

BadgerCentric: 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 pure hitter MO, and Brinkley giving up big plays. But I'm actually optimistic about these guys and the young guys too.

Hoops Marinara: There's no question that the secondary looks good by comparison. But I think they actually will be good. Henry should be ready to go -- he's one of the elite talents on the team. I'm really excited to see him grow up. The entire makeup of the secondary is intriguing. You have knock-out artist in Valai, an overachiever in Maragos. Niles Brinkley is probably the weak link.

Bucky’s 5th Quarter: Remember when Shane Carter led the Big Ten in interceptions two years ago? And Niles Brinkley picked off four passes last season? Why don’t I remember all of this? Oh, because when they weren’t grabbing turnovers they were getting beat for touchdowns and committing crucial penalties. Every member of the starting secondary has a good amount of experience, but how much talent do they have? We’ll find out soon.

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?

On Wisconsin: Bottom line is the heat should be squarely on Doeren. After what Hankwitz did to turn around the Northwestern defense, Bielema's choice to go with Dave over Mike hasn't looked so hot. Maybe it was just breaking everything in the first year with guys who were more used to Hankwitz's way of doing things? That's no excuse this year. On top of making tackles, the defense needs to improve its conditioning. The losses to Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State all lay at the defense's tired feet (Bielema's too, of course). The idea that a Barry Alvarez legacy team (as long as he's the AD, he's a part of it) could be 9th in scoring defense in the Big Ten is unfathomable. That can't happen again.

BadgerCentric: 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 are 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 one 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.

Hoops Marinara: It starts at the top with BB. I can't stress enough how much I want the coach to relinquish the Special Teams duties. He needs to set the example being focused and knowing where to be at all times. The good news is if the secondary can be everything I want it to be, that makes the job of pressuring the QB a little easier. I think the offense can be better this year too, which should (hopefully) alleviate the problems the defense had being worn out all the time in tight games.

Bucky’s 5th Quarter: The good news is that fixing these problems was item No. 1 in the off-season. Improving the defense’s mental and physical toughness – and committing fewer mistakes – will give this team an extra win or two this season. And if the problems continue then it will be a major problem for the defensive coaching staff.

I'm back

To paraphrase the words of my favorite Onion columnist, Jim Anchower:

Hola, amigos. How's by you? I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya ... but travel, work, kids, Webinz, Weeds, blah blah blah. In short, the motivation to update this blog during the offseason has been missing.

But, as has been pointed out to me several times in the past week, it's time to get my butt back on the keyboard and talking Badgers. The season's less than a week away now, and even though my expectations are as low as they've been in about five years, that's no reason to stay silent.

Lots to talk about before Saturday's opener, but I'm going to focus my thouhts on the initial depth chart.

Quarterback
Scott Tolzien and Curt Phillips are co-#1, and Tolzien is going to start against Northern Illinois. Although it was more exciting when midway through camp it seemed Phillips would emerge as the starter, I can live with this setup. Hopefully Phillips impresses enough in his snaps to earn the majority of the playing time -- or Tolzien plays so well that he claims the job outright. Bottom line: didn't expect much out of this position coming into fall camp, still don't.

Running back
So Zach Brown is going to start ahead of John Clay? Interesting. In this instance, I see it as a positive: Brown picking up his game rather than Clay disappointing. Clay's still going to get his carries and make an impact, and maybe less carries will lessen his injury risk.

Outside linebacker
Very excited to see Mike Taylor out on the field. When is the last time we had a freshman starting at linebacker? The adjectives used to describe this kid are the right ones. No offense to Blake Sorensen, but he doesn't seem to be a big-play type of guy; neither does Culmer St. Jean. Jae McFadden is solid, but also isn't a turnover-forcing, sack-creating force. Let's hope Taylor brings some of that.

Cornerback
Devin Smith has earned raves all offseason, and it wasn't a big surprise that he beat out Niles Brinkley. Which, like at running back, is more a reflection on the improvement of the new starter than regression of the new backup. Brinkley struggled a lot last year, but he also made some plays, and I would have been perfectly happy with him starting again this year. Smith and Aaron Henry should be a solid pair.

Here's what excites me about this depth chart overall: seven senior starters, and only three more senior backups. Few of these guys are among our best players. We may struggle this year -- I'm fully expecting it -- but a lot of freshmen and sophomores are going to get significant experience this year, which should really pay off in the next couple years.