Now departing

Just read Jim's story that Elijah Hodge, Xavier Harris, and James Stallons will be leaving the football program. None of these things are surprising nor necessarily damaging. Mildly disappointing.

I thought Hodge was going to be the second-best player in his recruiting class, after Beckum. After all, his brother was a stud at Iowa, so why wouldn't he be, too? He was an easy target for frustration as the defense struggled early in the 2007 season, although he did have that big play to end the win over Michigan State.

When he wasn't one of the top six linebackers this year you figured he was done playing from scrimmage. We'll never know how good he would have been had the injuries not caught up with him. Interesting that Bielema gave him a chance to move to fullback but he didn't take it. Nice thing is he's on pace to graduate in May.

Wasn't Harris's nickname "The Savior"? I remember watching him warm up before theh Bowling Green game in Cleveland and thinking that he lookd the part and would play as much as Swan and Hubbard at wideout that year. Guess not. Although a back injury ended his career, don't think it had that much to do with him not playing much before then.

Stallons, from what I understand, didn't put in as much prep time in the classroom or the meeting room to earn more playing time, but if he had he might have gotten on the field last year. With Phillips and Budmayr coming in, he was looking at being squeezed out himself.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Random memory from the Minnesota game ...

Sometime during a timeout in the second half, while the game was still very much in doubt, the scoreboard played a number of Badgers singing karaoke.

It was funny. Elijah Hodge's bit was good, and Aaron Henry sang a country song. But the bit that got everyone going was lineman Kenny Jones' rendition of Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something.

First of all -- what is any guy doing singing that song? And singing it seemingly without irony? And singing it pretty well?

Second of all -- at the end of the bit, the in-stadium cameras caught Jones on the sideline, and everyone around him was giggling, as were many of us in the crowd. Because it was funny.

But if you're a coach, or someone who was actually playing in the game, wouldn't the timing of this funny video seem in appropriate? I mean, you're locked in a battle against your bitter enemy, with players trying to get rest from 2-1/2 hours of a physical game, and coaches trying to figure out the next schematic move. All the while everyone's laughing at your guys, most of whom aren't playing.

I'm all for the kids having fun, and think this karaoke thing is great. But how about playing it in the first quarter, when the mood is still light? Or how about I just get less sensitive about these things?

Tackle leaders vs. Marshall

In reviewing the box score of Saturday's win over Marshall, something really jumped out at me: the tackle chart. Jae McFadden led the way with nine total (four solo, five assisted),but check out who came after:

Dan Moore 3-3-6
Mario Goins 5-0-5
Jeff Stehle 3-1-4
Erik Prather 3-1-4
Jason Chapman 2-2-4
Elijah Hodge 2-2-4
Chris Maragos 3-0-3
Blake Sorensen 2-1-3
Kevin Claxton 2-1-3

Of the top 10 tacklers, only four were starters: McFadden, Goins, Chapman, and Sorensen. It's quite possible that next week, only McFadden and Chapman will be starting. Hodge, Sorensen, and Prather will likely be the second-string linebacking unit starting next week, pretty solid. And Maragos hasn't played as much on defense as I thought he would, seems like Aubrey Pleasant is the first safety off the bench.

Ideally Moore and Stehle use this as a springboard to more meaningful playing time in relief of our regular d-linemen.

My hope is that the tackle chart looks like this after a few more games this season -- it'll mean we had some blowouts. Either that or a rash of injuries.

Breaking down the depth chart

Bret Bielema announced the Badgers' opening day depth chart last week, and here's what it looks like. Not many surprises, but a few things I feel compelled to comment on.

Offense
Quarterback
4 Allan Evridge, 6-2, 212, Sr.
18 Dustin Sherer, 6-4, 213, Jr.

Again, feeling strangely confident in Evridge. What might hold him back is not his performance, but the inexperience of his receiving corps, although we have arguably the best group of tight ends in the country.

Tailback
39 P.J. Hill, 5-11, 236, Jr.
30 Zach Brown, 5-11, 207, So.

Is John Clay #3, or is Bradie Ewing? I really hope it doesn't matter.

Fullback
44 Chris Pressley, 6-1, 259, Sr.
34 Bill Rentmeester, 6-1, 248, Sr.

Sounds like Pressley's going to miss the opener with a broken finger. Doesn't matter much, as long as we can run out of two-tight end sets, as I think we can.

Wide Receiver
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
1 Nick Toon, 6-3, 214, Fr. OR
13 Daven Jones, 6-1, 200, So.

Wide Receiver
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So. OR
7 Kyle Jefferson, 6-5, 175, So.
6 Issac Anderson, 5-11, 176, So.

Right now, this looks like the weakest group of Badger wide receivers since 2002, when Lee Evans' injury forced Jonathan Orr, Brandon Williams and Darrin Charles into prominent roles prematurely. Then again, two years ago I might have said the same thing about Luke Swan and Paul Hubbard. If Jefferson becomes the big-play guy he can be, and Gilreath becomes the slippery underneath guy a la Williams, they'll be fine.

H-Back
9 Travis Beckum, 6-4, 235, Sr.
84 Lance Kendricks, 6-4, 227, So.

Tight End
89 Garrett Graham, 6-4, 237, Jr.
36 Mickey Turner, 6-4, 252, Jr.

Really like what this group can do.

Left Tackle
68 Gabe Carimi, 6-8, 301, So.
78 Jake Bscherer, 6-7, 294, Jr.

Left Guard
75 Andy Kemp, 6-6, 315, Sr.
60 Jake Current, 6-4, 278, Fr. OR
66 Peter Konz, 6-6, 300, Fr.

Center
74 John Moffitt, 6-4, 323, So.
76 Bill Nagy, 6-4, 300, So.

Right Guard
63 Kraig Urbik, 6-6, 332, Sr.
70 Kevin Zeitler, 6-4, 285, Fr.

Right Tackle
71 Eric Vanden Heuvel, 6-7, 324, Sr.
67 Josh Oglesby, 6-7, 328, Fr.

Three true freshmen on the two-deep, as well as a redshirt freshman in Oglesby. I don't see a big drop-off in the line next season.

Defense
Left End
50 O’Brien Schofield, 6-3, 232, Jr.
45 Dan Moore, 6-2, 280, Jr. OR
97 Brendan Kelly, 6-6, 230, Fr.

Left Tackle
91 Jason Chapman, 6-4, 285, Sr.
95 Patrick Butrym, 6-4, 264, Fr.

Right Tackle
54 Mike Newkirk, 6-3, 264, Sr.
79 Jeff Stehle, 6-6, 290, Jr.

Right End
92 Matt Shaughnessy, 6-6, 253, Sr.
99 Kirk DeCremer, 6-5, 230, So. OR
93 Louis Nzegwu, 6-3, 228, Fr.

Sam Linebacker
11 DeAndre Levy, 6-3, 228, Sr.
42 Erik Prather, 6-3, 227, Jr.

Mike Linebacker
47 Jaevery McFadden, 6-3, 220, Jr.
15 Culmer St. Jean, 6-1, 228, So.

Elijah Hodge isn't even on the two-deep. After his brother's outstanding career at Iowa, he was one recruit I was really excited to get, second only to Beckum in that recruiting class. But he couldn't beat out St. Jean, who was no world beater last year, and McFadden, who doesn't appear to be the second coming of Mike Singletary. Hopefully he can still pull it together and contribute in his last two seasons.

Will Linebacker
2 Jonathan Casillas, 6-2, 226, Sr.
27 Blake Sorensen, 6-1, 217, So.

Sounds like Casillas won't play against Akron, and I would bet he's not on the field much against Marshall. We're going to need him against Fresno, though.

Left Cornerback
23 Mario Goins, 6-1, 186, Fr.
7 Aaron Henry, 6-0, 191, So. OR
26 Antonio Fenelus, 5-10, 175, Fr.

Interesting to see Fenelus's name here, didn't count on him being in the mix so early in his career. I like Goins' size.

Strong Safety
12 Jay Valai, 5-9, 197, So.
8 Aubrey Pleasant, 6-1, 198, Jr.

Free Safety
25 Shane Carter, 6-2, 202, Jr.
21 Chris Maragos, 6-0, 189, Jr.

Right Cornerback
17 Allen Langford, 5-11, 189, Sr. OR
29 Niles Brinkley, 5-10, 177, So.

Special Teams
Punter
98 Brad Nortman, 6-3, 215, Fr.

Placekicker
96 Matt Fischer, 5-11, 179, Jr. OR
18 Philip Welch, 6-3, 190, Fr.

Long Snapper
81 Dave Peck, 6-5, 246, Sr.
57 Drew Woodward, 6-4, 228, Jr.

Holder
21 Chris Maragos, 6-0, 189, Jr.
98 Brad Nortman, 6-3, 215, Fr.

Punt Returners
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So.

Kickoff Returners
85 David Gilreath, 5-11, 165, So.
3 Maurice Moore, 5-11, 167, So.

If Gilreath and Moore are indeed our starting receivers, that's not a lot of beef out there. Jefferson's no sumo wrestler, either. Weight and strength are not necessarily a prerequisite for success at the position, but they certainly help beating jams and in the running game.

Finally: what's with all these "ORs" that started popping up on the depth chart a couple years ago. It's a two-deep, not a three-deep — make up your mind and pick someone!

Big Ten overrun with spread offenses

On a similar note, after the basketball game yesterday over lunch at Brats, Andy told me about a conversation between the couple sitting next to him. The woman, a candidate for Wife of the Year, raised the point that with Rich Rodriguez going to Michigan, who in the Big Ten was left not running spread offenses?

Good question. My unofficial scorecard looks like this:

Weenie Ball
Michigan
Minnesota
Northwestern
Illinois
Purdue
Indiana

Man's Offense
Wisconsin
Iowa
Michigan State
Penn State
Ohio State

So Michigan hiring Rodriguez is officially a tipping point - the league of pro-style offenses and three yards and a cloud of dust now has more in common with the WAC than it does with the NFL. Ugh.

Despite all my criticism of the spread, you can't deny that it was first a good tool for helping less-talented teams compete with more-talented teams. Now, with teams like Florida and West Virginia running it so well, and Texas to an extent with Vince Young, it has permeated the elite levels of college football. It would be interesting to see, if Paul Chryst left for Purdue, if Bret Bielema would be tempted to hire a spread-based coordinator, given how much trouble we've had stopping it over the years. God I hope not.

My real hope is that Rodriguez's hiring at Michigan becomes the point at which the spread jumps the shark like past schemes du jour in college football - the run and shoot, the Wishbone, the 3-4. Usually it takes defenses at least five years to catch up with trends like this; when the majority of your opponents are running an offense, that almost becomes the default scheme for which you prepare and recruit, not the novelty that you only address in game weeks against those teams.

For instance: if seven of Bucky's 12 opponents next year are running the spread, is run-stuffing Elijah Hodge still considered the starting middle linebacker, or is the more mobile Jae McFadden?

I hope this is the beginning of the end for the spread. Let's get back to playing football, not Harlem Globetrotters basketball on grass.

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 one-minute preview

Every year I'm struck by how the Badgers' bowl game just kind of sneaks up on us. We usually learn the destination and opponent a month before it happens, then news and previews leak out, then Christmas, then boom! - game's here and it feels like I haven't given it much thought.

So the big game against Tennessee comes at 10 a.m. CST Tuesday, and here's my one-minute Outback Bowl preview.

-Tennessee is missing six players because of academics, including their leading receiver and starting defensive tackle and linebacker.
-Quarterback Erik Ainge, who was sacked only three times this year, is very good. He played most of the year with a shoulder injury.
-Running back Arian Foster had a big fumble in last year's Outback Bowl against Penn State, but he's used it to motivate him.
-The only new Badger injury since the Minnesota game is to cornerback Aaron Henry. Ben Strickland and Josh Nettles will replace him. This could be a big problem against a good passing team.
-Elijah Hodge is as healthy as he's been all season.
-P.J. Hill is expected to play, and so is Lance Smith, but Zach Brown will start at running back.
-Travis Beckum has decided to bypass the NFL draft and return for his senior season, but Jack Ikegwuonu is undecided and needs to decide in the next two weeks.

That's it, check back for my thoughts during and after the game. Go Badgers!

Oh, and this: Wisconsin 33, Tennessee 27

Defense

The Wisconsin defense was not as good as we thought it would be this year. Last year's unit ranked near the top of the national rankings in many key categories, and seven starters returned. The key positions to examine: defensive end, middle linebacker, and the two safety spots, not coincidentally the spots vacated by graduating seniors.

Two items in the news today illustrate why:

-Roderick Rogers was signed by the Broncos off their practice squad. Even though, as this story says, he was a two-time all-conference pick, I never thought he was an irreplaceable member of the defense; certainly never thought he was NFL-caliber, but apparently he is, and I'm glad. The struggles in the defensive backfield show just how good he and Joe Stellmacher were. In retrospect, Stellmacher really overshadowed Rogers, who was a darn good player in his own right.

-In The Cap Times Mike Lucas writes about Elijah Hodge's injury troubles this season (he also writes about Abdul Hodge, veers off onto Erik Ainge for a few paragraphs, and I think may have made his picks for the Iowa caucuses). Here's a guy who I thought would step in seamlessly for Mark Zalewski, and he may have, had he not been hurt. There is no such award, but look for Hodge to be our comeback player in 2008. The experience Culmer St. Jean and Jae McFadden got because of injuries to Hodge and DeAndre Levy will pay off as well.

On another note, I was talking to a friend about Joe Thomas last week and he asked me if Joe was having a good rookie season. Since I'm not an offensive line expert or Ron Jaworski, I couldn't tell, but responded that since the Browns offense was doing so well this year, he must have been at least holding his own. Yesterday he was named a Pro Bowl alternate, so he must have done OK.

All our ree-cruits live in Texas ... and Florida

My Hotmail inbox has been flooded with messages from Scout over the past couple days updating me on new Badger football commitments. Here are the last four:

CB Marcus Cromartie, Arlington, Texas (two pictures of him at right)
DT Eriks Briedis, Miami
DE Anthony Mains, Naples, Florida
CB Devin Smith, Coppell, Texas

Scrolling down the list we see:
S Shelton Johnson, Lewisville, Texas
S Kevin Claxton, Lauderdale Lakes, Florida

So that makes three recruits apiece from Florida and Texas. Without going back and analyzing past recruiting classes, I'd guess this is the most we've gotten from either state in a single recruiting class, and to get six from the two combined is an eye-opener. By contrast, we've only got one recruit from Ohio, and none from New Jersey, out-of-region areas that have been good to us. Maybe Henry Mason's health problems have hurt us in Ohio.

Florida isn't that much of a surprise, given Bielema's background there. Elijah Hodge, Zach Brown, and Aaron Henry are already contributing. Texas has me worried, though. Who of note have we pulled from that state? The only one who comes to mind is Michael Broussard, and he flamed out quickly.

I'm not saying we should intentionally stay away from Texas, or anywhere else for that matter - if there's a potential contributor in Alaska bring him in - but if we're going to focus on "hotbeds" I don't think Texas is a place to focus. This usually ties in to who your assistants are. Whatever, now that they're almost Badgers, I hope they set the world on fire.

Of all those guys, Cromartie is the most intriguing. Toohey keeps asking if he's the brother of Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie - probably not, since Marcus is from Arlington, Texas, and Antonio is from Tallahassee. Isn't the difference in the two mug shots of him above hilarious? Why is it a requirement for football players to act like hard asses in their official mugs? That said, I want to see the guy on top show up for coach B, ready to smack someone.

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.

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?

Wisconsin-Illinois predictions

Have a few minutes before the Iola-Scandinavia homecoming parade starts - day care takes Will and the kids down to watch, and it's fun to watch them ... the parade, not so much. Wanted to throw out some predictions for tomorrow's game.

-Jefferson has a big game. Illinois has a good corner that I think is going to limit Swan.
-PJ is going to carry the ball 40 times, or at least I hope so, because that will mean we're either winning or close. But I'm not predicting a 200-yard game or anything like that; as much as J Leman looks like a linebacker cliche/prototype (in the same sense as AJ Hawk or Brian Urlacher) - distinctive haircut, interesting name, talks a good game - I think the fellas are motivated to establih the run game after they took PJ out of last year's game, and Leman is held in check.
-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.
-Crooks is back this week, should help the running game, should be an upgrade over Mickey Turner.
-Ike has a shutdown game - on Benn?
-Casillas does a good job shadowing Juice Williams, but Hodge and the safeties struggle to contain Mendenhall.

It seemed like I had more thoughts than this while drifting off to sleep last night ... will add them later.

The fact that Illinois is favored in this one is getting a lot of play nationall, and it should because this sort of thing doesn't happen often. That, plus the fact that Illinois dominated us for a half last year in Madison, should provide all the motivation the Badgers need.

Wisconsin 26, Illinois 22

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.

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 ...