UW-Northwestern thoughts

Any time the Badgers lose to Northwestern, in any sport, it really stings. Why? Because the school does not care about athletics. The students, faculty, alumni, surrounding area -- no one cares. Clearly.

They are the Big Ten's premier academic institution, and for that they should be lauded. That's what universities should strive for. But their facilities are laughable, their athletes less talented, their paying fans far fewer in numbers than most of the conference.

And yet, our football team never seems to win in Evanston. Much to the delight of the several thousand polite people wearing purple, whose individual cheers were audible during the broadcast. Their students rushed the field after this game, which made them 5-3, 8-4 and likely gave them an Alamo Bowl berth. Really? I thought these kids were smart.

The final margin was two points, but it wasn't that close. We were outplayed from start to finish. Winning that game would have been highway robbery. I would have taken that, of course, but it it would not have been deserved. Northwestern took it to us and got the result they deserved.

At some point in the fourth quarter Charissa Thompson remarked that the Badgers' sideline was quiet, and had been all game, while Northwestern's was enthusiastic and lively. That showed on the field. Our guys had their moments, but it felt like they were going through the motions. Northwestern played with enthusiasm and heart.

Overall, I'm still really happy with the way this season has played out, and will elaborate more on that later, but today sucked.

-I hate harping on individual guys, they're amateurs giving it their best, but Isaac Anderson had the worst game by an individual Badger in recent years that I can remember. First offensive play of the game he drops a touchdown pass. Then he muffs the kickoff return and gives us awful field position. Then his holding call wipes out a first down catch and run by Nick Toon (who had another nice game). Then he's penalized for running forward before the snap on a play in which he caught a touchdown pass. Ike's had a nice year for us, but he really struggled today.

-Thought Scott Tolzien played a nice game. He generally found open guys, although he wasn't able to avoid the pass rush at key times.

-Awesome game for Garrett Graham, who sewed up all-conference honors today. They could not hang with him.

-During the game I was writing a post on John Clay's NFL draft prospects, and remarked that his ball security has been much better since he had his problems early this year. Then he coughs it up on not much of a hit when we're driving in for the go-ahead score. In my mind he's still clearly the Big Ten's offensive player of the year, but today was not one of his better days.

-There will probably be some praise for Mike Hankwitz in the aftermath of this one, but we still scored 31 points, so their defense wasn't that good. There's a good chance we might end up leading the conference in scoring this year.

-The secondary did not have its best day today, but a lackluster pass rush had a lot to do with their struggles. Mike Kafka had plenty of time to throw, and when we did get close to him we generally weren't able to bring him down. Decent player.

-Defense made it the entire year without allowing 100 yards rushing to a Big Ten opponent. Sort of unbelievable, no?

-Can't think of a single defensive player who stood out as playing well individually today.

-I've been tough on David Gilreath for his returns this season, but that punt return for a touchdown today was really nice. Not spectacular, but excellent execution between the returner and his blockers was textbook.

-Despite the general lack of interest surrounding Northwestern sports, they still wind up having good teams from time to time because of the sheer will of leaders like Pat Fitzgerald. That guy is a hell of a coach, and as long as they hold on to him -- which should be a long time -- they will be competitive.

Boy am I glad I didn't make the trip to Evanston today!

Q&A with Bret

Read that Bret Bielema will be answering questions from UW students at Grainger Hall tomorrow night. Shrewd move -- you're under a some heat, so get out in front of your constituency and let them ask you the tough questions.

My hope is that kids take the opportunity to show up and ask Coach B tough, but not stupid, questions. If any UW students out there are reading this and are looking for questions to ask, how about:

-Are you concerned about player development?

-Are you concerned that Minnesota appears to be making tentative inroads recruiting in Wisconsin, or at the very least protecting its borders better than in the past?

-Tell us about your non-conference scheduling philosophy.

-What has been your biggest mistake as head coach?

-Why did you fire Mike Hankwitz? Do you regret it?

-Why not allow members of the media access to practice on a more regular basis?

-Do you see us getting back to recruiting New Jersey on a more regular basis?

-What do you think of Facebook, Twitter, etc., in terms of recruiting, monitoring your players, etc.?

Please, please don't ask dumb questions pertaining to drinking, Cal Poly, 1-and-0, Notre Dame, his Hawkeye tattoo, Charissa Thompson, or Erin Andrews. OK, maybe Charissa and Erin questions are acceptable.

This is a nice opportunity for a true fan, take advantage of it.

Coz and Brew

Looks like Timmy Brewster has hired Kevin Cosgrove to be his new defensive coordinator. Interesting choice, especially making him co-coordinator with former UW secondary coach Ron Lee. A veteran-newcomer pairing, similar to our Hankwitz-Doeren pairing of a couple years back.

Also interesting because his last stint as a coordinator, with Bill Callahan at Nebraska, was an unmitigated disaster. The way the Cornhuskers were giving up points that last year under Coz, the finals looked like basketball scores, not football. From what I can gather, Gopher fans aren't too excited about the hire, either.

But Coz did a nice job at UW, although his departure and Bret Bielema's arrival was a necessary jumpstart to the defense. Coz is also an ace St. Louis recruiter, which might hurt us there, just as we were starting to re-restablish ourselves there with the likes of Montee Ball.

My guess is he lasts no more than two years in Minneapolis.

Good for Lee, nice to see a minority getting a chance to make a name for himself as a coordinator and audition for head jobs.

Sunday thoughts

At least the Brewers won last night. By my estimate, that's another $1 million-plus in ticket revenue alone, which the team could put toward paying for the equivalent of one start on CC Sabathia's next contract.

Onto more pressing matters, here's how I'm seeing the Big Ten right now:

1. Penn State. Still don't think they're national title caliber, and think they'll stumble at least once in conference, but clearly the class of the league right now.

2. Illinois. They're tough. Who's playing better than Juice Williams right now?

3. Ohio State. They've got to get Beanie Wells all lathered up more often. Maybe his toe is bugging him, although it sure didn't look like it last night.

4. Michigan State. But if we're going to rank you #4 in the conference, you shouldn't be beating Iowa by only three at home.

5. Michigan. Guess their defense isn't that good.

6. Wisconsin. A couple plays/minutes/calls/hearts from being on the top of this list. What could have been ...

7. Minnesota. Holding Indiana to seven points is sort of impressive.

8. Indiana. Kind of like Ohio State, without the running game or good defense.

9. Northwestern. I guess. They're saying Mike Hankwitz is making a big difference coordinating their defense. I'm saying they've beaten Syracuse, Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio, and Iowa.

10. Iowa. What's going on Kirk? Maybe Bielema will be a candidate for the Hawkeyes job after this season, and maybe Barry lets him go. Seems unlikely, right? Not as unlikely as it did nine days ago.

11. Purdue. Sad way for Joe Tiller to go out.

1998 vs. 2006: Which was the better defense?

Raised this question in last week's bye week stat marathon, but wanted to take a closer look. Before delving back into the stats, let's consider some other variables first:

Coordinator: Kevin Cosgrove (1998) vs. Mike Hankwitz and Dave Doeren (2006). Not sure quite how to call this one. By this point in Barry Alvarez's tenure, he had probably moved away from much micromanaging of the defense and become the chief delegator. So this was likely Coz's show. But the '06 team was Bret Bielema's first, and after a great start as defensive coordinator in 2004, the defense was awful in 2005, and he was probably eager to show people Barry didn't make a bad choice. I'm going to go with Coz on this one. Edge: 1998

Defensive line: Tom Burke/Ross Kolodziej/Eric Mahlik/John Favret (1998) vs. Joe Monty/Jason Chapman/Nick Hayden/Matt Shaughnessy. Burke had one of the best seasons a UW defensive lineman has ever had (22 sacks!), Kolodziej played in the NFL, Favret was in his second year of a four-year starting career, and Mahlik was underrated. Monty was a plugger, Hayden regressed in his junior season, and Shaughnessy was solid if not spectacular. Edge: 1998

Linebackers: Bob Adamov/Donnel Thompson/Chris Ghidorzi (1998) vs. DeAndre Levy, Mark Zalewski, Jonathan Casillas. The '98 unit was long on experience and chemistry, the '06 unit was long on speed and big-play ability. Edge: 2006

Secondary: Jamar Fletcher/Mike Echols/Jason Doering/Leonard Taylor (1998) vs. Allen Langford/Jack Ikegwuonu/Joe Stellmacher/Roderick Rogers (2006). I like the '98 corners better, even if they were freshmen, and the '06 safeties better. Edge: Even

Schedule difficulty: The 1998 team held a high-powered Purdue team to 24 points in that classic night game when Jump Around was invented, gave up 27 points to Michigan in its only loss, and held just enough (31 points) against UCLA to win the Rose Bowl. No Ohio State on the schedule.

The 2006 team also gave up 27 points in the team's only loss ... at Michigan ... and allowed 24 points at home against Illinois, but missed high-scoring Ohio State. My first inclination is to call this even, but I saw all of the 2006 games, and the Big Ten was pretty bad that year. Holding an Arkansas team with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, both of whom look like Pro Bowlers, to 14 points is impressive, even if the Hogs' passing game was pathetic. Neither team stoned any dynamite, versatile offenses. Edge: 1998

Rushing yards allowed per game: 1998 - 92.2, 2006 - 114.8. Edge: 1998

Passing yards allowed per game: 2006 - 138.3, 1998 - 200.4 Edge: 2006

First downs allowed per game: 2006 - 13.7, 1998 - 16.0. Edge: 2006

Third down conversion % allowed: 2006 - 28.2%, 1998 - 34.7%. Edge: 2006

Turnovers forced per game: 1998 - 2.8, 2006 - 1.9. Edge: 1998

Points allowed per game: 1998 - 11.9, 2006 - 12.1. Edge: Even

It appears the numbers slightly favor the 2006 defense, but the personnel of the 1998 defense strike me as better, and in my opinion they did it against better competition. So I'm going to give the slight edge overall to the 1998 defense. What do you think?

If the 2008 defense can even approach these levels, we ought to be in good shape this year.

Vote for Joe Thomas!

Joe Thomas had a great rookie season in Cleveland, helping the Browns into playoff contention and making their offense one of the best in the league.

Now we can vote for him in a Rookie of the Year competition. Realistically, he has no shot - Adrian Peterson is the overwhelming favorite, Patrick Willis had a great season, and Joe is an offensive lineman.

Last week it was announced he would be going to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl, good for him. The UW press release said he's the first Badger Pro Bowler since 2005, when Chris Chambers and Mike Schneck went. Really, Mike Schneck? Mamas, train your boys to be long snappers.

-On another note: did you see that Northwestern hired Mike Hankwitz to be their defensive coordinator? Interesting. Northwestern has never had a good defense, so we'll see if Hank can turn that ship around.

Chryst not headed to Purdue

The State Journal is reporting that Paul Chryst has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Purdue job, as many insiders have speculated. Is it because he doesn't like recruiting? Was there not a spot on the Purdue staff for him to bide his time as Tiller-successor-in-waiting?

Don't know, don't care. I'm just glad that after a week of turmoil that some semblance of stability has returned to the program. To recap:

-Bob Palcic left for UCLA. Not altogether surprising or disturbing - he wanted to work with Rick Neuheisel, a close friend. This kind of thing happens in coaching. I'm confident we'll find a solid replacement.

-Bret Bielema fired co-defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz. This was a little surprising and a little disturbing. Is BB throwing Hank under the bus for an underachieving defense? Remember, in 2005 BB followed up a super defense by coordinating the worst unit in team history, and it's unlikely he would toss the coordinator after one subpar year. That would indicate lack of a conscience. My guess, based on pure speculation, is that it was a personality clash issue. When Palcic and Hankwitz were named as part of Bielema's first staff, it surprised me, but his attempt to balance youth and experience seemed sound. As has been pointed out, maybe he's now looking for climbers and not lifers for assistants. Let's hope Dave Doeren is up for the defensive coordinator by himself.

-Even though many things pointed toward it, I actually didn't think Ike would leave for the NFL just yet. My hunch was that he would be left feeling unsatisfied after his inconsistent season. But you know what? He's got to look out for his best interests, and if he's a top three round projection, that money can set him up for life. Obviously very concerned about the cornerback position without him, with Henry and Langford coming off knee injuries. We'll really need a better pass rush next year to give these guys some help.

-Let's not forget about the loss of Wes Kemp to Missouri. Probably not a bad move for him, staying close to home and playing for a pass-happy program that's riding high right now. Yes, we have some nice receivers right now, but not enough that we can just lose talented 6-4 guys without having a replacement. On paper, this is shaping up to be a mediocre recruiting class, which we all know means nothing, but I'd rather have a ton of four- and five-star guys.

My friends and I engaged in a nice back-and-forth yesterday about what all this means, and they made some good points. Here's the one that was the most interesting: what if our record gets worse the next two years? As my buddy pointed out, it's entirely possible, with the recent defections and a difficult schedule, to project 12-1 and 9-4 continuing on to 7-6 and 5-7 after graduation guts the 2008 team.

Look at next year's schedule. The game at Fresno State seems like a trap. We open the Big Ten season at Michigan, home against Ohio State and Penn State, at Iowa, and home against Illinois. That's a rocky road, folks.

If that happens, then what? It's not like the start of Barry Alvarez's tenure, when the program was in shambles and he slowly built from 1-10 to 5-6 and 5-6 before busting through. There aren't many places for Bielema to go but down after starting 12-1. How patient will Barry be if that downward swing dips below .500?

My thought on that was that just about every Big Ten program not named Ohio State and Michigan goes through something like this from time to time. Ours did in 1995 and 2001. In both cases we rebounded and built toward another pinnacle. How will we handle adversity when it inevitably comes?

The nice thing is, there's still a lot to like about this team heading into 2008, and the season may end up being special, like a 1998 or 2006. The last eight days have kind of made it hard to feel that way.

Yikes - bad morning

Check the Journal Sentinel Badger Blog first thing this morning and find almost nothing but bad news since logging off last night:

-Ike is leaving for the NFL.
-Wes Kemp de-committed and committed to Missouri.
-Mike Hankwitz has seemingly been fired.

Will discuss more after work