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.

Spring game thoughts

During the Big Ten Network's day-long orgy of UW athletics, I recorded the spring game, and watched it on a rainy Sunday. Not too much going on, but it satisfied my football jones for the time being, and I've got some thoughts and feelings.



-Philip Welch looks like the kicker, more reliable on his attemps than Matt Fischer. The other specialist, punter Brad DeBauche, didn't look all that good, leaving the door wide open for incoming freshman Brad Nortman.

-Scott Tolzien looked pretty good at quarterback, showed nice chemistry with T.J. Theus. Tolzien did miss a wide open Maurice Moore in the end zone, a play that Jay Valai misplayed. Valai did make a nice pick later.

-Allen Evridge was OK, nothing spectacular, nothing horrible. Most of the national stuff that's been written about our team lately has been calling quarterback play a big question mark and doubting our guys. Setting the bar low ... I have a feeling the guys will jump over that bar.

-Chris Maragos showed great ball skills and athleticism, with one interception and another one that should have been. Niles Brinkley made a really nice play on his pick as well.

-On the flip side, Prince Moody and Otis Merrill didn't look very good at cornerback.

-The first string Cardinal squad ran the ball well enough, but given that the first string offensive line was fully in tact, and the defensive line was missing about 87 guys because of injury, the O Line did not dominate as much as would have been expected.

-Lance Smith looked really good, showing patience as his blocking developed. Having him for all games, health willing, will add a dynamic element to the offense. Zach Brown ran well before going down. And John Clay was as good as advertised - not dominant yet, but effective right off the bat. He's going to be a beast; I can see "Joooooohn Clay" becoming the new "Roooooon Dayne." We've got to have the best group of running backs in the country.

-Dustin Sherer had some nice hook-ups with David Gilreath. Gilreath had a strong showing overall.

-Curt Phillips didn't do much, but my favorite moment for him actually came after a play was whistled dead. Phillips was wearing a green no-contact jersey, and as defenders encountered him on one play it was whistled dead, but he took off upfield and showed a tremendous burst. I'm looking forward to him getting a year under him as a redshirt and getting ready to compete for the starting job in 2009.

-James Stallon is Jim Sorgi skinny, maybe even more. He's listed at 6-5, 172 pounds ... maybe pass rushers won't see him back there. And apparently his last name is pronounced "Stalins" not "Stal - ens." I'd rethink that if I was him.

-Said it before, will say it again: Lance Kendricks is the next Travis Beckum, starting in 2009.

-On the mic, the normally steady Jay Wilson made mistake after mistake, and not on obscure seventh stringers but on guys who will see time this season. Luke Swan wasn't as bad as I thought he'd be, although his voice did get drowned out by the band at times. He looked really small next to Wilson, surprisingly small.

Only a couple months until fall camp starts, can't wait!

Spring game

Read a bunch about the spring game today, and here's what I'm thinking in a nutshell:

Like
-Louis Nzegwu played really well at defensive end with four tackles for loss. He should provide quality depth at a shaky position this fall.

-Lots of reports raving about DeAndre Levy, not so much his play but his leadership. As unstable as the other defensive units are, we should be able to go six deep at linebacker this season without much dropoff.

-Lance Kendricks caught a touchdown pass. His breakout isn't going to come this year, but in 2009 he'll be a big part of the offense as a Beckum-type tight end.

-Seems like Chris Maragos played well at safety, and Jay Valai made some plays. The playing time's there, guys, might as well take it.

-The running backs did nothing to make us think that this won't be our strongest position in 2008. Say all you want about the other three guys, who are good, but I'm still glad P.J. Hill is coming back as the starter. These are four guys who all bring something to the table and will test defenses in their own way. Looks like Johnny Clay did not disappoint in his first public appearance as a Badger.

Don't like
-I'm convinced that our kicking game is going to cost us a win or two this season. It sounds like Philip Welch and Matt Fischer were lackluster at best yesterday, and it doesn't appear there's anyone coming in for fall camp with a chance to unseat them. Bielema held a contest for students to field kicks cleanly; he should have held an open placekicking tryout. And while Brad DeBauche was not impressive punting, at least we have a touted freshmen coming in to push him this fall in Brad Nortman.

-None of the quarterbacks distinguished themselves, but can anyone remember the last time a QB really stood out in the spring game? Stocco and Donovan were horrible, if I recall, and put together some nice seasons. So I'm not too nervous about this ... yet.

-Sounds like my man Daven Jones and Kyle Jefferson suffered from the drops in spring ball. I was already counting on Jefferson as a sure thing at wideout this season, and given all the uncertainty around him at the position, he has to be reliable.

-Bielema's goatee is really bad. He looks like he's auditioning for the defensive line coach job at Lodi High School. What's wrong with the farm fresh, clean cut look from his official mug shot (above)?

It reminds me of something: Every year I try to take a week of vacation around Christmas and New Year's. Starting on Christmas day, I do my best to stop shaving for at least a week, to see if I can grow decent facial hair. Sadly, I still can't, but because I'm really not going out in public, I have some fun with it and end up whittling it down into a tiny, bad goatee that Jana rolls here eyes at. That's what Coach B's goatee looks like. I can just see Alvarez walking by Bret in the Camp Randall parking lot and rolling his eyes.

OK, spring's over. When does the first fall preview magazine come out?