Thoughts from the Wisconsin-Indiana box score:
-As much as Indiana shredded our pass defense, here's an interesting stat: we averaged 17.6 yards per completion to Indiana's 12.6. On 11 attempts, that's a pretty good day for Scott Tolzien.
-If we get through a game with a roughly 5:2 run-pass ratio, we're usually going to win.
-Time of possession advantage for Badgers: 33:45 to 26:15.
-Interesting punter comparison: Brad Nortman's gross average was 44.2 to Chris Hagerup's 37.8, but Hagerup's net average was 37.0 yards to Nortman's 32.5. Touchbacks will do that to a guy. Nortman's solid, I'm not complaining, but he can work on his coffin corner touch.
-Just one end around called today, a week after Lance Kendricks ran it so well and a year after David Gilreath ran it so well against Indiana. The fake end around was employed regularly.
-No surprise that Chris Borland led the team in tackles with nine, including one for loss and his incredible interception. But Devin Smith was second with eight, an indication of how often Indiana passed. Interestingly enough I don't remember a single play Smith was involved in.
-Will Patterson led Indiana with 10 tackles, but Montee Ball flat run over him on his second touchdown run. That's a true freshman running over a senior thought to be one of the best linebackers in the conference. The future is bright for that one.
-Indiana's defense is not good, and most of their key players are seniors. Besides Patterson, there's Greg Middleton and Jammie Kirlew, who were rendered non-factors by Gabe Carimi, Josh Oglesby and Jake Bscherer. It's hard to see the Hoosiers getting considerably better any time soon.
-Jay Valai had a tackle for loss and pass breakup, and was generally more noticeable today than in most other games this year. Which got me thinking: he's making less highlight reel plays, but he's also whiffing on tackles less often. Overall, his play has been solid, as has that of Chris Maragos, which has helped as our young cornerbacks have had their ups and downs finding their way on the edge.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
UW-Indiana box score
Saturday, November 7, 2009
UW-Indiana thoughts
What else can you think about this but, "Whew"? Glad we won, but that was far from the dominant four-quarter effort we should have shown against an inferior opponent in front of a crowd smaller than one you'd see at a Texas high school game.
First, give Indiana credit. They did some nice things in the passing game. Their defense got better in the second half, although it got better when our all-conference running back went to the sideline.
But we made enough plays to win on the road. Can't be too upset about that.
-Offensive MVP? How about Nick Toon. He had five catches for 123 yards, and his last two were huge. The long one set up Montee Ball's second touchdown run. The last one came on third down on a poorly-thrown ball by Scott Tolzien. If Toon doesn't make that catch, Indiana gets the ball back with a ton of momentum. Great game by Nick.
-Defensive MVP? Chris Borland is obviously top of mind; his pick in the third quarter thwarted a nice Indiana drive. But that play was made posibble by O'Brien Schofield, who hit Ben Chappell as he was throwing. Borland's stat line may be more robust, but OB came up with big plays at crucial times. What a year.
-That said, on the whole our pass rush was lackluster on the day, which is probably why our pass defense was the worst it has been since the Fresno State game. Then again, Indiana put up 24 points at Iowa, far better than we fared against that defense, as well as 28 at Northwestern and 33 at Michigan. So the Hoosiers' offense isn't bad.
-Not listening to the radio broadcast, but haven't heard yet why John Clay didn't play in the second half. He was on the sideline walking around, looked to be mentally with it. Our running game was obviously less effective with him out, but Ball played well in his first extended action -- 115 yards, two touchdowns, good ball security. We need Clay to beat good teams, though.
-Clay's status is obviously of primary concern, but I'm also worried about Josh Oglesby. When he walked off the field after holding his knee, I was optimistic, but he didn't return. He's had a good year, and Jake Bscherer, while probably not a terrible liability, isn't the force in the ground game that Oglesby is.
-I'd give Tolzien a C for his play today. Against a pass defense that bad, 194 yards isn't that hot. If his receivers hang on to those two well-thrown balls that they dropped, his numbers are significantly better. And he didn't take any sacks. Bottom line: he didn't do anything to lose the game for the Badgers, which was just what we needed today.
So Iowa loses to Northwestern, Michigan loses again, at home to the team we beat 37-0 last week. We'll see what it all means for Wisconsin after the Penn State-Ohio State game tonight. A top-flight bowl game remains a possibility.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Line not offensive at all
After thinking about it, I thought the offensive line played perhaps its best game of the year against Michigan State. The first two series were rocky (Jim Polzin reported that John Moffitt offered reporters $15 not to mention his early whiffs, funny stuff), but after that the play was really solid. We ran the ball effectively against what was by far the best run defense we've faced this year, and Scott Tolzien was given time to throw.
The interesting thing is, that wasn't the offensive line as it was projected at the beginning of fall camp. In fact, only the starting tackles were as projected. As far as I could tell, the line shaped up like this:
LT: Gabe Carimi
LG: John Moffitt
C: Peter Konz
RG: Kevin Zeitler
RT: Josh Oglesby
His camp injury aside, Carimi is a given, although the hold he was called for against MSU was pretty ugly. The fact that Oglesby has been largely unmentioned thus far can only be seen as a positive. The quality of competition he's going to face is about to getting dramatically better, hopefully he's built up enough confidence to play well against the likes of Ohio State and Iowa.
The interior spots are most interesting, though. Apparently Jake Bscherer has settled into a career as a backup. Is Travis Frederick healthy enough to go, or has Konz just played well enough to keep him on the bench? Same goes for Bill Nagy and Zeitler at right guard.
Tough to say. Without extensive video review it's often hard to determine the effectiveness of individual interior linemen. But it seems clear that Bob Bostad has about eight starting-caliber linemen at his disposal. Even better, not one of these linemen is a senior. As well as the offense has played so far, it's not a stretch to say that with just about everyone scheduled to return next year, the Badgers' 2010 offense could be one of the best we've had.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Hold it!
Perhaps among the sniffles-related stories that have unfolded surrounding the Badger football team this week -- who has the swine flu? J.J. Watt's mom brought him chicken soup? Josh Oglesby uses hand sanitizer? -- was one of the most interesting stories I've read recently.
It was a Jeff Potrykus Journal Sentinel story Thursday centered around line coach Bob Bostad's opinion of the holding call levied against Travis Frederick in the Northern Illinois game.
You should read the whole story, but here is a good quote:
"If you watch that play, the linebacker came into him, probably saw him coming up ready to engulf him, and turned his back to Travis and fell down. I talked to the officials and said we almost need to hold guys up to not get called for holding. Because this guy goes down on the ground of his own volition, and Travis is on top of him with his hand extended ... I mean, it's bad. It's getting to the point where ... "
Bostad then went on to discuss the hold called against John Moffitt in the Michigan State game last year. Had that call not been made, we would have won. Bostad caps it off with a gem:
" ... if we can't do that anymore, I might as well go coach field hockey."
I love it! Genuine candor and humor from a coach!
And really, I couldn't agree with him more. Did not see a replay of the Frederick hold, but that Moffitt call against MSU was god awful. Not only was it questionable, but it happened about 20 yards away from the play, a John Clay run around right end.
Bostad is certainly not suggesting that no one holds anymore; you certainly still see them a lot againt pass rushers. And wide receivers seem to be prone as well, just saw Hines Ward get flagged correctly, and he's arguably the best-blocking wideout on the planet.
But holding by lineman on running plays, in tight quarters where there are a lot of bodies, just shouldn't seem to happen as often as it's called. Almost as if refs have a quota to hit, like cops and speeding tickets.
Looks like Moffitt won't be ready to go again this week, so let's hope Frederick holds up well again ... no pun intended.
Speaking of sniffles stories, here is arguably the most useless story of the week, courtesy of Andy Baggot:
Postponement due to flu unlikely
No kidding. Here's betting Pat Hill doesn't give a rat's ass that Tyler Westphal spent a little more time at the toilet than usual this week.
As for the game, Fresno should be a good test, and I see this game going down to the fourth quarter like last week. But ultimately, they've got a quarterback making his first career start on the road, and Camp Randall isn't a good place for that, so I'm thinking our defense makes enough stops to win.
26-20 Badgers
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Questions from Duff Beach
Duff Beach, frequent commenter and blogger at Badger Sports Bar, recently emailed myself and several other bloggers some questions about the upcoming football season, to get us going. Trust me, it's tough getting motivated to blog during the summer. Duff's first round focused on the offense, my answers below.
What's your take on the WR's? Is Gilreath really the #1? Where does Jefferson fit in post multiple concussions?
Don't think Gilreath is the #1, not strong enough. Think it's gotta be Toon. Jefferson is the deep threat, can't see sending him over the middle any more. I have faith in Gilreath and Anderson to find openings in coverage, Brandon Williams types.
The Running Backs? Anyone else think Brown may take more than 1/3 of the snaps this season? Worried about depth?
Hadn't thought of it, but I agree Brown might take more than a third of the snaps, a combination of his being pretty good, Clay being in his first season as the main guy, and probably more third downs than we'd like.
Tight Ends? So Graham is a beast, how dangerous is Kendricks? Will Turner really just be a fullback already at the line? Will we ever even see a true fullback with this offense?
I can see fullbacks still playing a part of this offense, seems like we're still recruiting that type of kid. Turner's a blocker, not mucn more. With Graham and a solid good of wide receivers, I don't see Kendricks catching more than 35 or 40 passes, max, even if he's a lot better.
And the biggie . . . who's it going to be? Who should it be? And why?
It's going to be Sherer, at least at the start. It should be ... Budmayr is he's even close to being ready. A reach? Maybe. But my sense is he's the best passer of this group, he probably wouldn't be much worse than the other guys this year, and we could have him start for four years.
I guess on offense all that leaves is the line: How will it be with three new starters? Was Bielema serious that Konz could push Oglesby out of the starter's spot, or was he just making a point to Josh? How will Bscherer be at guard? Anyone else worried about a lack of depth at guard? Will anything stop the rash of false starts and holding penalties?
The line won't be as good as last year, but I'm not worried about it. Carimi is a stud, Moffitt's solid, and the other three starters have starting experience. I could see Konz beating out Oglesby, he struggled mightily at times last year. Bscherer I see being a Matt Lawrence type, someone who's not going to be a huge plus but isn't going to be a liability.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Bowl practice goals
As the Badgers' season turned into a struggle just to become bowl-eligible, much was made of the importance of the extra practices that come with playing in a bowl game. "It's like another spring practice" they say, although I find that hard to believe it's as effective.
Coaches give guys off for awhile after the last regular season game. Then practice attendance is spotty during finals time. So it's not like the kids are getting solid, uninterrupted practice time.
But it's better than not getting any additional time, and given what we're staring at next season, the practices are imperative for keeping our bowl streak alive in 2009. Here's what I'd like to see addressed in December:
Quarterback
Dustin Sherer played much better as time wore on, seemingly shaking off the rust. Outside factors played a role. The schedule got easier; the wide receivers -- Isaac Anderson, Nick Toon, David Gilreath -- all grew up to an extent; Travis Beckum's season-ending injury forced him to look for other guys.
Still, I think we all want to see what Curt Phillips can do. From the little we've seen of him, he seems like a kid who can make plays with his feet, a skill that will come in handy behind an inexperienced offensive line next season.
Should Phillips be getting more work than Sherer in bowl practices? I say no. After such a disappointing season, we need to win the bowl game, and getting Sherer as prepared as possible is important. Phillips will benefit from the experience, and maybe you give him some of the backup reps, but at quarterback, prepare for the bowl game first, not 2009.
Offensive line
Kraig Urbik, Andy Kemp, and Eric Vanden Heuvel all depart after this season, leaving behind just Gabe Carimi and John Moffitt. Who will be the new starters at left guard, right guard, and right tackle next season?
There are plenty of good candidates. At tackle, Josh Oglesby got off to a good start but struggled later. Jake Bscherer has the credentials and spent this year redshirting so he could retain eligibility once EVH and Urbik left.
At guard, we've got Kevin Zeitler, Bill Nagy, and Jake Current. Nagy seems to have a leg up here, having played extensively this year when injuries hit. I could see Oglesby sliding inside to guard, as most of his struggles this year stemmed from dealing with speed edge rushers.
In any event, the path to sorting out which of these five guys ends up in those three spots starts now.
Defensive line
I am worried sick about our '09 prospects at this position. Who replaces Matt Shaughnessy, Jason Chapman, and Mike Newkirk? I feel OK about defensive end. Louis Nzegwu will be OK, sort of like O'Brien Schofield was this year.
It's tackle that looks bleaker. Right now the incumbents would be Patrick Butrum and Jeff Stehle. Neither one stood out in their playing time this season. Dan Moore needs to show he can play tackle, which is where he was recruited to play.
Someone from the group of Eriks Briedis, Anthony Mains, Brendan Kelly, J.J. Watt, and Tyler Westphal has to emerge as a contributor. I like Watt, seeing him at Family Day he looked the part. Briedis and Mains had nice frames for tackle as well, Kelly was drawing positive reviews in fall practice, and Westphal was the most highly-recruited of this bunch.
Unlike quarterback, where I feel Sherer needs all of the work to get ready for the bowl game, on the D-Line the focus on the future needs to start now.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
UW-Iowa thoughts
Watching the postgame on the Big Ten Network, I saw Bret Bielema's press conference. At one point he ended a sentence with "The team that's beating Wisconsin the most is Wisconsin."
That sums it up. Because let's face it, this Iowa team that crushed us today is, at best, marginally above average. In this year's Big Ten, that could be enough for a top three finish, but that team has good lines and a good back and not much more.
Right now, that's a lot more than what you need to beat the Badgers.
-I really hate to say "I told you so," especially when it involves the subpar play of an amateur athlete who's out there trying his best. But does anyone still think Dustin Sherer is a better option at quarterback than Allan Evridge? With a couple exceptions, Sherer was pretty bad today. His accuracy was spotty. He locked onto his primary receiver and never seemed to progress from there. He's not mobile. He threw two picks and was a couple inches from throwing four or five.
The offensive line protected reasonably well, and we had receivers open, but the passing game never hit a rhythm today. I thought Scott Tolzien looked better at the end, but circumstances and personnel force you to take that with a grain of salt.
Who should start next week? Right now I'd say Tolzien, but might change my mind in a couple days ... or a couple hours.
-The BTN crew was going on and on about Shonn Greene and touting him as a Heisman candidate, but my mom could have run for 100 yards behind that offensive line today. On most of Greene's successful runs he wasn't touched for what seemed like 10 yards, and while he did show some nice moves and toughness to make everything he could out of those runs, his performance today was a reflection of his line's dominance.
Or our defensive front's ineptness. Forget getting into the backfield and recording tackles for loss. These guys were getting dominated at the point of attack, putting all the pressure on our defensive backs to make saving tackles.
-On Greene's first touchdown run, DeAndre Levy took a bad angle. Greene showed terrific patience, just waiting for our defenders to run themselves out of position to make a play.
On Greene's second touchdown run, he broke about 73 tackles. On his third touchdown run, Shane Carter ran himself to the wrong side of the Iowa blocking wall, and was in no position to even get a hand on Greene. On Greene's fourth TD run, he ran untouched until he was about 15 yards past the line of scrimmage.
Last year the problem on defense was overpursuit and bad angles to the ball. This year it seems to be the opposite problem, guys playing tentatively, then reacting after it's too late. Having never been an effective defensive football player myself, I imagine there's a fine line between the two that you need to hit to be effective. I can't remember another Badger team struggling so much to toe that line.
-John Clay ran fine, but BTN's Chris Martin said his pad level needed to be lower -- good point. Clay's a legit 6-2 and needs to make sure he's hitting linebackers in their stomachs, not their shoulders. Also thought P.J. Hill ran reasonably well until getting hurt. If his ankle was hurt, why was he standing on the sidelines? When I hurt my ankle enough to sit out at noontime hoops, no way I'm standing after that. Unfortunately he's on the verge of complete irrelevance.
-Iowa's tough against the run, but why did we throw the ball 20 times in the first half with a scattershot quarterback making his first start?
-The hang time on Brad Nortman's punts seems to be about a second less than it should be, doesn't it?
-The announcers commented that O'Brien Schofield was late getting on the field for the first play of the second half. After we kicked off. After knowing all of halftime that the first play from scrimmage in the second half would have our defense on the field. This is the stuff that's killing us.
-Josh Oglesby really struggled at tackle today, flat-out whiffing on pass rushers several times and committing at least one penalty. On the other side of the line, Eric Vanden Heuvel played fine, but there was one pass play, a designed swing pass to Zach Brown, where EVH was supposed to get out and block an Iowa cornerback in space, a la Joe Thomas. There's only one Joe Thomas.
-Officiating by no means cost us this game, but I wanted to bring to light two calls that really killed us. The first was a roughing the passer penalty on Jonathan Casillas. From the replays BTN showed, that looked like a horrible call. Iowa scored a couple plays later.
The second was the punt preceding the blocked Nortman punt. The refs got Prince Moody for hitting Andy Brodell after he apparently called fair catch. The replays showed a second or two before Brodell fielded the ball, and I never saw his hand go up. Brodell had to be calling for a fair catch the second the ball left Nortman's foot, or else it would have been caught on camera. He may have gotten his hand up, but I didn't see it. The offsetting penalties nullified what would have been a first down and made us re-kick, and we know what happened next.
-POSITIVE BADGER PLAY ALERT: The first two drives on offense and defense in the second half were solid. And Philip Welch continues to make the placekicking game the least of our concerns. Also thought our cornerbacks played well, or at least they didn't get beat badly today by Iowa's pedestrian quarterbacks and receivers. Sounds like Mario Goins has a concussion, though, hopefully he'll be all right for Illinois. Brown showed a spark late.
-If you would have told me that we'd outgain Iowa 409-375, hold them to 1-of-10 on third down conversions, and go 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, I would have liked our chances.
Where do we go from here? If you're like most of the people who've voted in the poll in the right-hand corner, not to a bowl, that's for sure.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
UW-Ohio State halftime thoughts
This has been a tough first half to watch, not necessarily because of the action, but because I've been switching back and forth between the Badger and Brewer games. Thank goodness for DVR.
After a shaky start, we've outplayed Ohio State thus far, and it's nice for that to be reflected in the halftime score. We've been more physical, gotten a number of players involved in offense, and Evridge has gradually played better. Keep it up and we've got a shot to win this one.
-Quote of the first half, upon seeing Ohio State's long-maned tight end Jake Ballard: "Look Daddy, I saw a girl on the field!" Good thing he didn't see Aubrey Pleasant.
-Ohio State's offensive line really blocked Beanie Wells' touchdown run well. Freshman center Michael Brewster engulfed Jonathan Casillas to create the key lane.
-Terrelle Pryor just eats up yardage when he runs, it seems like it takes him about three steps to cover 10 yards. We've done a nice job containing that part of his game, though. The key is to approach him under control and not running full speed, because he's shifty enough to sidestep that.
-If I were callings plays for Ohio State I'd run Wells every play until we stop him three in a row. Ten rushes in a half in a game like this isn't enough for that guy.
-Terrific play by Allen Langford on the pick. Pryor threw a bad ball, but Langford stayed right with the receiver and did a great job boxing out.
-You might expect this, but I love how Camp Randall looks at night. It just screams Big Game. If anyone reading this went to the game, please comment on how the crowd was, and why. On the broadcast Mike Patrick commented that the crowd seemed quiet, and wondered whether it was because of the band's absence.
-After two passes Mickey Turner's way I wrote "Why are we passing to Turner so much?" Especially one third down, where Evridge tried to squeeze a tough pass to Mickey when Travis Beckum was wide open. But Evridge and Turner both made nice plays on the touchdown later in the half.
-Look out if you're sitting in the front row, Jay Valai is hitting everything in sight tonight. His first big hit came on an Ohio State third down attempt, when he blew up the blocker -- when he should have attacked the receiver right next to him. But he laid a great lick on Dan Herron (hopefully he's okay) and later on Dane Sanzenbacher (ditto). He needs to be more consistently under control, but his reckless abandon feels right tonight.
-Dave Doeren has made some nice blitz calls, especially the one where Deandre Levy and Mike Newkirk got through to sack Pryor. The Buckeyes blocked Valai but let those two dudes come through untouched -- bad decision.
-I thought I saw Dustin Scherer warming up before the 91-yard touchdown drive, and thought him replacing Evridge at that point would be a good move. But Evridge stayed in and responded with a great drive.
-So Josh Oglesby's under the gun tonight, replacing Gabe Carimi. Heckuva time to make your debut at left tackle. Guess this means Jake Bscherer is definitely redshirting this season.
-Think we can put that David Gilreath end-around on the shelf for the rest of the night. It was fun while it lasted.
-That touchdown drive -- 91 yards, 8:16 -- was the best of the year, bar none. Terrific play calling, good running, timely passing when needed.
-John Clay looks good again. He always seems to be moving forward, even when he's dancing and waiting for a hole to develop. Sometimes P.J. seems like he stops in those situations, although he's had some solid runs as well.
-Another great hit: Billy Rentmeester runs over Brian Hartline on punt coverage. Love the way we're hitting.
-Evridge's best pass of the night came late to Kyle Jefferson to set up that field goal. Maybe if everyone's keying on Beckum that will be open again once or twice in the second half. OSU's got good DBs, though, wouldn't count on it.
Hopefully in 90 minutes we'll be basking in the glow of dual big wins by the home teams.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Gabe Carimi: Cornerstone
The other day I was reading a thread on the Buckyville message board detailing a quote from Howard Griffith of the Big Ten Network. To paraphrase, Howard said that if he could take one conference player to build a team around, it would be Gabe Carimi, the Badgers' sophomore left tackle.
At first, I chuckled. With all the prep All-Americans Ohio State and Michigan bring in from around the country, surely our somewhat anonymous young 'un wouldn't be that guy, right?
But then I thought about it. If you're choosing a guy to build a team around, you'd want:
-A young guy, preferably with at least three years of eligibility left, ideally with the inclination to stay until his eligibility is exhausted.
-A track record in college, not just prep accolades and press clippings.
-A guy who plays a premium position.
Carimi fits all three, especially the third, playing left tackle. Digging deeper, I grabbed Athlon and checked their preseason all-Big Ten team looking for freshmen and sophomores. On the top three all-conference teams, here's what the magazine had:
-WR Arrelious Benn, sophomore, Illinois (first)
-PR David Gilreath, sophomore, Wisconsin (first)
-Carimi (second)
-LB Greg Jones, sophomore, Michigan State (second)
-KR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, sophomore, Iowa (second)
-C John Moffitt, sophomore, Wisconsin (third)
-LB Martez Wilson, sophomore, Illinois (third)
-KR Harold Howell, sophomore, Minnesota (third)
We can discount the three returners -- return guys are nice, but unless they're Devin Hester they're not going to be the first guy you'd pick. Benn might be the most talented guy here, but if he's Randy Moss, he sure doesn't have a Tom Brady, which will limit his production. Don't know much about Jones. Wilson has star written all over him, but he hasn't done it yet. I love Moffitt, but he's a center, and that is no better than the second most-important spot on the line.
The obvious guy that hasn't been mentioned here yet is Terrelle Pryor, and if he lives up to his billing, this discussion is over.
But he hasn't done it yet, which makes Gabe Carimi as good a choice as anyone in the Big Ten to build a team around. Glad to have him on our side.
-On this note: it's the presence of Carimi and Moffitt, along with Josh Oglesby, that leave me optimistic about the next two years.
Friends of mine, one in particular, have posited that with the exodus of a very talented senior class, 2009 could be a rough year for the Badgers. It's a valid point; you don't lose Pressley, Kemp, Urbik, Vanden Heuvel, Beckum, Evridge, Shaughnessy, Chapman, Newkirk, Levy, Casillas, and Langford without feeling it a bit.
But think of the guys we'll have coming back: Hill, Brown, Clay, Carimi, Moffitt, Oglesby, Gilreath, Jefferson, Schofield, McFadden, Carter, Valai, Goins, Henry, Welch, Nortman. We could be in for some frustrating days on the defensive side of the ball, but should also be able to pound opponents into submission with the running game.
Ah, but that's next year. Still plenty of things to worry about and look forward to in 2008!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Friday afternoon Badger thoughts
We're 95% sure we're headed to Madison on Sunday to attend the football team's Family Day and visit with friends. Never gone to Family Day before, but figured it would be a good chance to get some pictures of the boys with some players, and maybe hook Will on Badger football this year. He will be wearing his John Stocco/Aaron Henry jersey, hopefully we can get it signed.
When I was a boy my dad took me to one Bucks game a year, Photo Night. Every kid got their picture taken with one Bucks player, and those guys were like gods to me: Sidney Moncrief, Paul Pressey, Terry Cummings ... and to a lesser extent Fred Roberts (two years, one of my dad's favorite players) and a fellow named Keith Smith. Hopefully we can start making memories like that for Will and then Charlie.
-Speaking of Henry, looks like he's going to have more surgery on his knee and could redshirt this year. Allen Langford has not reclaimed his starting corner spot, either, apparently. So it's looking like Mario Goins and Niles Brinkley as our top two. One of my favorite Badger beat writers compared it to Fletch and Echols' freshman seasons. It reminds me more of 1995, when Cyrill Weems and Jason Suttle were in their first year as starters and did their fair share of struggling.
-Feeling better about our kicking situation than I did heading into camp. Seems like Brad Nortman is the real deal, lots of good things being written about him. Little bit surprised that Matt Fischer seems to be leading the placekicking derby.
-Feeling better about Allan Evridge at quarterback. Not sure why.
-See Johnny Clay's a bit dinged up -- and so it begins (see poll at top right) ...
-Read that Jake Bscherer and not Josh Oglesby is the odds-on favorite to be the tight end in the jumbo package. Wouldn't take that as a sign of disappointment in Oglesby, it's probably just that Bscherer is lighter and more nimble.
-Feeling like our non-conference schedule is getting criticized too much. Yes, we dropped Virginia Tech for Cal Poly, didn't like that. But we travel to Fresno State, a top 25 team. That's nothing to sneeze at.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Weighing the Big Ten O-lines
The other day I was reading Athlon’s college football preview, and going through the Michigan preview, I noticed that Stephen Schilling, their leading returning lineman, weighs 295 pounds. Odd, I thought, an elite lineman weighing less than 300 pounds. They still exist?
Apparently. Surveying the Big Ten’s projected starting lines, I found plenty of guys weighing less than 300 pounds. Here is how they break down, going LT-LG-C-RG-RT:
Indiana: 306-320-292-315-292
Illinois: 295-303-296-309-300
Iowa: 305-300-285-305-290
Michigan: 294-288-292-292-295
Michigan State: 305-325-300-292-320
Minnesota: 315-280-275-300-305
Northwestern: 285-295-300-305-285
Ohio State: 312-345-297-323-312
Penn State: 314-291-297-288-309
Purdue: 325-308-287-314-300
Wisconsin: 299-316-317-328-321
For those who don’t know Badgers by their weights, that’s Gabe Carimi-Andy Kemp-John Moffitt-Kraig Urbik-Eric Vanden Heuvel.
The average projected starter on a Big Ten offensive line in 2008 weighs 302.98 pounds.
Interesting, no? Now let’s look at how these lines average out. In parenthesis are Athlon’s conference ranking of the units, which I found to be pretty much in line with how I see things.
Ohio State: 317.8 (1)
Wisconsin: 316.2 (2)
Michigan State: 308.4 (8)
Purdue: 306.8 (5)
Indiana: 305 (7)
Illinois: 300.6 (4)
Penn State: 299.8 (3)
Iowa: 297 (6)
Minnesota: 295 (11)
Northwestern: 294 (10)
Michigan: 292.2 (9)
Certainly, weight alone doesn’t make an effective offensive lineman. Strength, agility, intelligence, technique, scheme – they’re all as important as size, although you don’t see too many 6-1, 250 guys out there any more.
But isn’t that interesting? Ohio State and Wisconsin, the consensus top two lines in the Big Ten, are by far the largest. Minnesota, Northwestern, and Michigan, the three lightest, are also Athlon’s three weakest units in the conference. Of course, all three also run the spread, so their relative Liliputian statures aren’t critical liabilities.
Now, let’s look at the Big Ten’s team rushing leaders in 2007: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State. This year’s three heaviest lines are right there, and talents like Rashard Mendenhall and Juice Williams transcended a lighter-than-average line for the Illini.
Josh Oglesby, all 338 pounds of him, will arrive as a starter in 2009 at the latest. There will be no stopping us then.
Friday, May 30, 2008
We're #7 - our offensive line, that is
Just how good is the Badgers' offensive line? Lindy's has it as the seventh-best unit in the country.
2006: 37th
2002: 33rd
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Spring football
OK, let's take a quick break from all the basketball talk and look at football spring practice for a bit. I went over to uwbadgers.com and popped open the depth chart and just about fell off my chair.
No Travis Beckum. No Garrett Graham. No Allen Langford. No Aaron Henry. No Jason Chapman. No Kirk DeCremer. No big deal, this depth chart is just for the completely healthy guys, and I've got no problem with these dudes taking a spring break.
A look at the current two-deep:
Offense
QB: Allan Evridge, Dustin Sherer. Part of me wants Curt Phillips to challenge for the backup job, part of me just wants him to redshirt.
RB: Zach Brown or P.J. Hill, Lance Smith or John Clay. Man, are we strong there.
FB: Chris Pressley, Bill Rentmeester
WR: Kyle Jefferson, Maurice Moore or Isaac Anderson. No Nick Toon? the State Journal did a nice story about how he's added 20 pounds of muscle. He's 6-3, 220 so he could be a beast.
WR: David Gilreath, Xavier Harris or Daven Jones. I really want Daven to make a move up the chart this spring.
TE: Mickey Turner, Lance Kendricks. Kendricks is my candidate for 2009's breakout player as Beckum reincarnate.
LT: Gabe Carimi, Jake Bscherer
LG: Andy Kemp, Jake Current. Look at the true freshman!
C: John Moffitt, Brad Thorson
RG: Kraig Urbik, Bill Nagy
RT: Eric Vanden Heuvel, Josh Oglesby. Hope this is a battle and JO either takes the starting spot from EVH or pushes him to a different spot.
Defense
LE: O'Brien Schofield, Louis Nzegwu or Ricky Garner. I feel oddly comfortable with Schofield here.
LT: Mike Newkirk, Jasper Grimes. Really wish Newkirk didn't have to start. Looks like he's going to need shoulder surgery. In addition, Dan Cascone (shoulder) and Brandon Hoey (back) are battling injuries, so we are paper thing at defensive tackle.
RT: Jeff Stehle, Patrick Butrym. Here's your chance, Jeff, make the most of it.
RE: Matt Shaughnessy, Dan Moore. Interesting, thought Moore was brought in to play tackle. Sit Shaughnessy for the spring, what does he have to prove?
SLB: DeAndre Levy, Blake Sorenson
MLB: Elijah Hodge or Culmer St. Jean, Kevin Rouse. Or? Guess it depends on if we're playing a spread team or a team that plays real football.
WLB: Jonathan Casillas, Jaevery McFadden. We're really solid on the outside.
LCB: Mario Goins, Josh Nettles or Prince Moody. Goins is bigger than I thought.
RCB: Niles Brinkley, Otis Merrill. Here's hoping none of these five corners have to start this season.
SS: Aubrey Pleasant or Jay Valai, Chris Maragos
FS: Shane Carter, Kim Royston. Same guys as last year, more or less, time for them to improve.
Special teams
K: Philip Welch, Matt Fischer. Yeesh.
P: Brad DeBauche, Philip Welch. I'm really going to miss Ken DeBauche and Taylor Mehlhaff. Hope this Brad Nortman kid is good.
PR: David Gilreath, Maurice Moore
KR: David Gilreath, Daven Jones, Niles Brinkley, Maurice Moore
LS: Dave Peck, Drew Woodward
H: Chris Maragos, Brad DeBauche
Good time for young guys to come in and make a name for themselves, time for guys like Maragos to learn a new position and contribute where our depth is shaky. Wish I could make the spring game, but I haven't for a long time, and with Crazylegs following shortly thereafter don't think it's worth the trip.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
A look at the Badgers' football recruits
Bret Bielema signed his latest recruiting class when I was still recovering from my Germany jet lag, so I've been remiss about commenting on our latest round of new Badgers.
Maybe that's because this class didn't have the pizazz of some of our other classes — no John Clays or Josh Oglesbys. Maybe it's because my least favorite Big Ten coach, Tim Brewster, signed what is being heralded as a terrific class at Minnesota.
Or maybe it's because I've finally come to realize that, while it can be fun to follow, getting really worked up about football recruiting is pointless. It would be one thing if we were players in the Terrelle Pryor derby, but we're not. Here is my take on football recruiting in a nutshell:
-We will never rank near the top of the Big Ten recruiting rankings. Ohio State and Michigan will always be 1-2, and Penn State will usually be third. Some school like Iowa or Minnesota or Wisconsin will sneak into the #4 spot on occasion. That doesn't always translate into wins - the core of Iowa's last two disappointing teams was a recruiting class considered the school's best-ever, while their success preceding that came with players who may have flown under the radar in the recruiting process.
-If you get a lot of capable kids and coach them up, you'll have a chance, even against all the bandwagon-jumping mercenaries suiting up for the Buckeyes and Wolverines.
-Getting the key in-state kids to come to Madison will always be our top priority, and with a few exceptions (Adam Stenavich) we've been outstanding in this area since Barry took over. This year is no exception.
-Complementing the signees with solid walk-ons is critical.
-Our best teams have not been led by highly-ranked recruiting classes, but rather by deep classes that didn't have many busts.
So what about this year's class? I like Tyler Westphal, the defensive end from Menasha. Iola-Scandinavia scrimmaged Menasha this year, and my buddies who saw it said Westphal just threw our kids around - and we were state finalists.
The offensive line signees - Neenah's Peter Konz, Wisconsin Lutheran's Kevin Zeitler (left), Joe Schafer of Minnesota, Jake Current from Ohio - seem poised to carry on our tradition up front. I like that we signed so many defensive backs from Florida and Texas, and loaded up on defense in general (14 of 23 signees).
We signed a junior college transfer, Dan Moore, to help immediately on the defensive line. Thankfully, we haven't relied on Juco guys too much over the years, but sometimes you need them to plug holes. Clearly we're thin on the defensive front, so Moore will get his shot.
Curt Phillips (right) has already enrolled in school, will take part in spring practice, and might have a chance to compete for the starting quarterback job this fall (although my money would be on Allan Evridge). I'm excited about this guy. And the kid who may have the biggest immediate impact is Brad Nortman, a highly-regarded punter from Brookfield Central.
An interesting side note: Jim Polzin wrote an interesting story fleshing out something we touched on here a couple months ago. Basically, Jim points out that we signed six players from SEC states, three from Texas, and none from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. This is because the current batch of assistants doesn't have ties there like past staffs had. Let's just hope Florida, Texas, and the other warm weather states we're now mining are as good to us as New England has been.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Better get back on the field, P.J.
There's been a lot written lately about the Badgers' running back situation: Lance Smith will play in the Outback Bowl, P.J. Hill is still hurt/now he's feeling better, Zach Brown was impressive late in the season, John Clay has looked good in bowl practices, Quincy Landingham is transferring.
The Journal Sentinel published a story that is as pointed as any thus far, particularly the headline: "Hill Losing Ground - Backups Show Promise." In it, running backs coach John Settle says, "I try to be sensitive to the fact he did have a serious injury," running backs coach John Settle said. "But once you go through all the tests and it's negative ... you've got to go."
Wow, challenge issued. My initial reaction to reading this quote is that P.J. Hill is not a wuss - you don't reach the level of football he has reached, playing a physically demanding position, without a high degree of toughness. This seems like one of those scenarios you see in a football movie: the guy is hurt and the coach tells the trainer to stick him with a huge needle so he can play even though it's going to be to his long-term detriment. You hope your favorite program doesn't do that.
Then again, put yourself in John Settle's shoes. The tests show P.J. isn't hurt any more, at least not to the extent he was, and since he's still the most proven entity in your backfield, you'd like to nudge him back on the field and play through it.
It reminds me of a time in seventh grade when I missed two games in the St. John's basketball tournament with a bad ear infection. (I was our second-leading scorer, and in one of the games I missed our top scorer, David Holton, scored all 37 of our team's points.) My coaches later said they would never have missed a game for that reason. But if I had played, my health was so bad I would have been mostly useless. P.J. probably feels the same way, only unlike me, he looks out at the field and sees capable replacements.
This is at least the second time the coaching staff has publicly called P.J. out like this (we all remember the "get tough pills" comments from BB last season), and I hope it was the desired effect - helping him get back on the field quicker, not straining his relationship with his coaches. Because P.J. Hill at 90% is still better than 90% of the backs in the country at 100%.
-Caught Bielema's TV show Wednesday afternoon on the Big Ten Network. At the end he fielded a question about which young players had impressed him during bowl practices. Good question, but the answer was too wide-ranging: Clay, OL Josh Oglesby, WR Nick Toon (right), DE Patrick Butrym, DE Louis Nzegwu, LB Kevin Rouse, LB Blake Sorensen, DB Mario Goins, and DB Otis Merrill.
Yeah, that narrows it down to just about every scholarship true freshman who didn't see action this season (except Sorensen, who had a very nice year). Still, even though Bielema's answer wasn't terribly enlightening, it got me excited for next year and the stars and contributors of tomorrow - one of the best things about college sports. Last week ajs mentioned the spring game, and I think I'm going to try to make it down this year - if only they still had it the same weekend as Crazylegs.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Beckum's back!
Just saw some great news on the Sporting News site that is confirmed on uwbadgers.com: Travis Beckum will return for his senior year at Wisconsin! I won't bother going over how incredible and uncoverable he was this year, or his numbers and accolades. Let's consider:
-How loaded with skill position players the offense will be. The Badgers should have the best 1-2 tight end combination in the country in Beckum and Garrett Graham. If everyone's eligible and healthy (no sure thing) we should have the best group of tailbacks in the country in P.J. Hill, Lance Smith, Zach Brown, and John Clay. Kyle Jefferson is ready to put up big numbers in his second year, and it's a good bet someone will emerge as a 25-catch guy opposite him (Daven Jones? Wes Kemp?).
The line, losing only unsung Marcus Coleman, should be good again - especially if Josh Oglesby forces his way into the lineup. That leaves just one big question mark: quarterback. Will Allan Evridge be at least adequate, as Tyler Donovan was this year?
-It will be interesting to see if Beckum puts on 15-20 pounds on the 224 he played at this season in an attempt to get more NFL-ready. And, if he does, will his ability to get open and make plays in the open field be diminished? If he can put on weight, improve his blocking, and still be a receiving terror, that would be tremendous. But given his importance as a security blanket for a first-year starter at QB, selfishly I would like him to stay around 230 and focus on receiving.
Whatever, I'm just happy he's back!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Slow Tuesday
Finals time in Madison, so no hoops and little football news to discuss. The two things the papers picked up on were:
-Surprise! Looks like PJ might be ready to play in the Outback Bowl after all! This has reached the point where I don't even care any more, and would ask coach B to refrain from addressing the situation if at all possible.
-The more interesting development comes from the offensive line, believe it or not. It appears that Eric Vanden Heuvel will remain on the bench for the bowl game, with John Moffitt (right) staying at left guard, Andy Kemp at right guard, and Kraig Urbik at right tackle. Bielema says this lineup gives them more athleticism, and without having broken down game tape, I would tend to agree - Moffitt goes 6-4/307, EVH goes 6-7/325, and you would guess the "smaller" Moffitt could fly around a bit better.
It was also said Moffitt is the favorite to replace Marcus Coleman as the starting center next year, and I would guess EVH returns to his starting right tackle spot ... unless Josh Oglesby beats him out. It's shaping up as a nice line.
Wisconsin State Journal story about next year's line
