Daily Devin

This morning I woke up to feed Charlie and flipped on ESPN to find something wonderful on the bottom line.

Mavericks 97 Nets 121 ... Harris (NJ) 41 pts, 13 assts

So not only does Devin blow up with another huge game -- think about it, he accounted for at least 67 points with those numbers -- but he did so against the team that traded him because Mark Cuban thought Jason Kidd was the guy to get them to the next level.

Nice call man! Maybe we should be hoping Cuban buys the Cubs ...

Read the AP story, it's awesome. Devin's up to fifth in the league in scoring. Keep making us proud young man!

Jared

The other day I was reading an update on Jared Berggren, who has not officially announced intentions to redshirt this year, although it certainly seems to be trending that way.

Earlier this year I made a post detailing the history of basketball redshirts under Bo. Although it seems like a bunch of guys have redshirted, it's really only been four: Brian Butch, J.P. Gavinski, Mickey Perry, and DeAaron Williams. Not counting on Gavinski yet, that's a 25% hit ratio, with Butch being the only true success story out of that group.

But that's exactly why I think it would make sense for Berggren to redshirt. He's built like Butch. He faces a logjam of veteran talent ahead of him as a true freshman, like Butch. Hell, he even looks like Butch -- check out that picture of him running up The Hill.

I'm willing to bet that if he trades the 40 or 50 minutes of garbage time he might get this year (minutes that become more and more rare in conference play) for 25-30 minutes a game as a fifth-year senior, it will be best for everyone involved, just like it was for Butch.

To that end, I also like Ryan Evans' decision to redshirt, and think it would have been wise of Ian Markolf to do the same. But who knows? Maybe Ian is planning on graduating in four years and moving on to post-basketball life, so a redshirt doesn't make sense.

Florida State's defense

I asked Rich at Chant Rant for an overview of the Florida State defense, and he responded with this excellent breakdown:

As the season wound down, FSU fan frustration peaked -- mostly due to the defense.

Throughout this decade, offense has taken the brunt of the criticism. Meanwhile, the defense made big plays, produced turnovers, and kept the team in the game. Even when the D deserved equal credit for a loss, they seemed to get a pass. Until this year.

In 2008 the D's roster of juniors and seniors was supposed to hold the fort, while the wet-behind-the-ears offense grew up. Instead, they gave up too many points in too many big games. So for the first time in his 24 years in Tallahassee, D-coordinator Mickey Andrews is feeling the heat -- even to the point of considering retirement, so it's rumored.

The growing case against Andrews's defense includes inability to adjust to the spread offense, relying too much on man-to-man pass coverage and too little on zone, plus an overall lack of discipline. That last point, critics say, is what opponents have learned to exploit, using misdirection to juke FSU's fast-reacting defenders out of position.

The disconnect is when you check the national stats. FSU is 13th in Total Defense (allowing 291.75 yards per game) and 8th in pass defense (164.95 yards per game). Scoring Defense is another story, though. The 20.8 point per game average is somewhat deceiving. Miami scored 39 in a shootout (FSU scored 41), while Georgia Tech, Boston College and Florida all put up big numbers with misdirection and creative scheming.

Which is exactly what Wisconsin's offensive staff should be working on. Though the Badgers don't appear to run much spread and misdirection, mixing some in with Big 10 power football could be a winning combination. On the other hand, the Noles defense should be out to regain some respect after being drubbed by Tim Tebow and company in the final game of the year.

Who are the key players to watch for on FSU's D?

Let's lead with the leader, All-ACC defensive end Everette Brown (6-4, 248). This bull rusher is third in the nation in sacks, with 12.5. Brown's high-revving motor should be in top gear for what's probably his last game as a Nole. The junior appears certain to leave early for the draft. Pressuring from the other side is senior Neefy (as in beefy) Moffett (6-1, 256). No slouch at getting to the quarterback, Moffett pulled a batted pass out of the air against Clemson and scooted for a score while shrugging defenders off his back like water off a goose.

If the ends are the strength of the defense, the tackles are the disappointments. Bud Thacker (6-2, 280) and Kendrick Stewart (6-2, 256) too often get neutralized by opposing linemen. Justin Mincey (6-5, 284) showed some late season promise that may have earned him increased PT against the Badgers.

FSU's starting linebackers are out of the same mold (6-2/6-3 and 225 - 230). Senior Toddrick Verdell is a former safety and the most mobile, able to drop into coverage or blitz. Another senior, Derek Nicholson, is the biggest and leads the team in tackles with 76.

Keep an eye on senior cornerback Tony Carter. Playing his final game in Garnet and Gold, Tony is a feast or famine pass defender. He might make a diving pass breakup one moment, and give up a TD on the next play. A more consistent CB, and probably better NFL prospect, Patrick Robinson mans the other side, when not called on to play Safety.

The Noles are proud to have an All-American at one safety spot. Make that Academic All-American. He's Myron Rolle, the much hearlded Rhodes Scholar and a future surgeon. The Nole nation is all very proud of Myron. But while he's played steady and been a credit to the school, he's never quite lived up to the potential he showed as the number one prospect coming out of high school. Perhaps he's saved the best for his last collegiate game.

Vote for Devin

The love continues to pour in for Devin Harris. Sports Illustrated had a really nice short feature on him a couple weeks ago. Their basketball writers are talking about him being the best point guard in the Eastern Conference.

To me, he's obviously the top, but he doesn't yet carry the name recognition of some of the other guys on the ballot. Let's make sure he makes the All-Star team.

Vote here

My favorite Devin stat is that he's leading the league in free throws made per game. Just like Bo drew it up.

Offensive

Was watching an ESPN bowl preview last night and the guys were pretty overwhelmingly pro-Florida State in their prognostications. In their view, FSU's defense is going to be way too much for us to handle, and their offensive line is like nothing we've seen. The viewers agreed, with 81% calling a Seminole win.

Underdogs baby!

Rich from Chant Rant asked me to give him an overview of our offense with key players, and the below is what I came up with. What do you think, am I close in my assessment?

Overview
For a long time we were run, run, run, but offensive coordinator Paul Chryst has done a nice job of balancing us out. This year, that didn't turn out so hot because of limitations at quarterback.

We're still at our best when we pound the rock behind our large offensive line and keep the passing to unpredictable downs and distances. The run game still functions best between the tackles, although this year converting on third-and-short has been a struggle.

The passing game relies heavily on the tight end, even with injuries to top guys there. The wide receivers are young and developing, but several came up with big performances late in the season. We don't run any Spread, and little if any shotgun.

Most passing plays are at least seven-step drops. We still use a fullback a lot, and have two seniors there. You'll see a lot of two-tight end sets, even with our injuries. At times we'll play a third tackle in obvious running situations.

Quarterback
Dustin Sherer took over midseason for turnover machine Allan Evridge. He struggled a lot at first, showing the rust of not starting for four years. He has a funny throwing motion and low release point, and sometimes tries to force throws into impossible spots or make plays when throwing the ball away would be more prudent. Other times he makes plays with his feet and his throws get exactly where they need to be. He makes me nervous as hell every time he drops back, but he's the best we've got at the moment.

Running back
Junior P.J. Hill ran for 1,000 yards for the third straight season, but for the third straight season was injury-prone. He's a solid back who has improved the shape of his body from really doughy to just kind of doughy, but he finishes runs well, can catch out of the backfield, and pass block. Sometimes he dances too much rather than hitting holes hard.

Redshirt freshman John Clay is the guy many Badger fans want to see get the lion's share of the carries. He's 6-2, 230 and fast, and at times has had troubles with ball security and running too high. But he hits the hole with authority and seems to make more things happen than Hill. Either way, a good 1-2 punch. Florida native Zach Brown is #3 on the depth chart and sees time on third downs. With Clay's emergence he hasn't seen as much time as anticipated, but had some great moments last year as a freshman.

Chris Pressley and Bill Rentmeester are the fullbacks, and are pretty much just extra guards.

Receiver
Tight end Travis Beckum was an All-American candidate coming into the season but suffered through an injury-plagued season before breaking his leg against Illinois. The next week against Michigan State promising tight end Lance Kendricks also broke his leg. This leaves tight end Garrett Graham, an all-conference pick, as our top remaining threat. As you can see, we were as deep at tight end as anyone, and even with the injuries to Beckum and Kendricks, we're still solid there. Mickey Turner is the blocking tight end.

Wide receiver was a question mark coming into the season, and only late in the season did they start making plays consistently. David Gilreath is small but quick. We run a lot of end-arounds to him, and he had over 100 yards rushing against Indiana. Nick Toon is Al Toon's son, and has the prototype build. Isaac Anderson's dad played collegiately at Minnesota, and he's starting to show consistency. My sense is they'll have trouble getting open against the Florida State secondary.

Offensive line
Long a strong point in our program, our line was good again this year, but not as good as billed. Again, injuries played a part, but they were probably slightly overrated to begin with. At left tackle, sophomore Gabe Carimi is an up-and-comer, an athletic 6-8 kid with good feet. They try to get him out blocking little guys on the perimeter like Joe Thomas did. Left guard Andy Kemp is solid, he pulls a lot, even in short-yardage situations. Center John Moffitt is a charismatic, emerging emotional leader who has taken some costly holding penalties this season. He also pulls.

Right guard Kraig Urbik was probably the most consistent lineman, he's a four-year starter. Right tackle Eric Vanden Heuvel is huge, more of a run blocker than anything. None of them are All-Americans, and when one or two of them were hurt this season the offense sputtered, but when they were all together they run- and pass-blocked effectively. Josh Oglesby is the third tackle, he was the top-rated recruit at the position coming out of high school two years ago, but struggled pass blocking at times this year replacing Carimi and Vanden Heuvel when they were injured.

Kicker
Freshman Philip Welch is our kicker, and has done a great job replacing standout Taylor Mehlhaff. His kickoffs are on the short side, but he's been steady on field goals and extra points.

UW-Green Bay thoughts

Is it just me, or have the guys who played for Green Bay tonight been around forever? Tillema. Schachtner. Berry. Evans. They have usually put up a good fight at the Kohl Center, and they did so tonight for awhile before the better team won out.

Good rebound from the uninspiring Idaho State game. GB shot 34.6% from the field, and while some of that was GB just not shooting well, they weren't getting the layups that ISU was getting the other night. We shot 52.1% from the field against an aggressive Phoenix defense, much better. Lots of encouraging individual performances.

Fifteen points in just 22 minutes for Krabby, who put himself in good positions to score on a number of occasions. And he's hitting free throws consistently this season, can finally trust him at the line.

J-Bo had 12 points on only four field goal attempts, that's efficient.

Nankivil had 11 rebounds in 28 minutes, which has to be a career high. He event took a 3-pointer in rhythm today. In my mind, Keaton needs to be on the court at least 20 minutes a game, it lets Landry focus more on offense. Marcus was more aggressive posting up tonight, maybe because he had a lighter defensive load.

Eleven points for Timmy Jarmusz. He was a scorer in high school, but until now he had been just a solid floor guy at UW. If he can throw in a few double-digit scoring games where he hits a couple 3-pointers, that would help immensely.

Kevin Gullikson got in earlier than normal today. He didn't distinguish himself with his play, but he looks quicker and more fit than he did earlier in his career. Does he make the regular rotation 10 deep? Probably not, but he can be called on in case of foul trouble.

The Big Ten Network play-by-play guy really butchered his account of Tod Kowalczyk, calling him "Ted" and recapping his career at "DePree" High School in suburban Green Bay.

Finals, then a bad Coppin State team before Texas. Have a nice week off, guys.

What's the line? Part II

Rich from Chant Rant asked for my take on the Badgers' defensive line, now here's his take on the Seminoles' offensive line:

You ask how good are the smallish guys on the offensive line?

Good. Better than they had a right to be, given that they were the youngest OL in D-1 football. We're talking three true freshmen, and two sophs, plus a redshirt frosh who backs up at tackle.

Why so young and so small? Credit goes to OL coach Rick Trickett, a Viet Nam-era Marine vet who, like a D.I. at Parris Island, whipped this kiddie korps into fighting shape. Trickett is a buddy of Head Coach in Waiting Jimbo Fisher. He came to FSU in 2007 from West Virginia, where he was known for turning unheralded youngsters into NFL draft choices.

Trickett likes 'em lean and, with a lot of hard-nosed techniques, mean (here's a great story on how they toughened up: http://nolesports.tallahassee.com/article/20081014/FSU03/810140323). Arriving at FSU, he he told the O-line, "Welcome to Jennie Craig." His guys have the body fat of Michael Phelps after a 1500 meter race. With Trickett, it's all about leverage, quickness and technique to prevail over big defensive linemen. Think Denver Broncos with their svelte OL that over the years that made many a running back wealthy. In fact, Trickett is on the leading edge of the "athleticism over size" trend in college football.

On the plus side, FSU's running game has gone from one of the worst in D-1 to among the top third in NCAA stats. The Noles are scoring nearly ten points per game more than last year. And the OL has often played well against bigger defensive front.

As for negatives, the lean 'n mean approach, coupled with youth, didn't work in a few key games this year. Boston College's big boys -- especially 320 lb. B.J. Raji -- showed that size matters. Said Coach Bobby Bowden, "It's hard to do anything when your defensive tackles are getting pushed into your linebackers or when your offensive line is getting pushed into your quarterback." FSU's OL also struggled with Virginia Tech's and Florida's front.

The tackles include two true freshmen: Andrew Datko (6-6, 278), and Zebrie Sanders (6-5, 280), backed up by redshirt frosh Antwane Greenlee (6-6, 290). Datko was a quick study on Trickett's technique and is tough as nails. But the guy's so skinny compared to the other OL, he almost looks like your paperboy. He'll be a weight room project in the off-season. Sanders shows much promise, but is probably responsible for the most holding penalties this year.

At guard, Rodney Hudson (6-2, 290) is the rock of the OL and a grizzled vet as a sophomore. He was a freshman All-American in '07. David Spurlock (6-5, 287) is another true frosh with enormous potential, yet obviously learning on the job.

At center, redshirt sophomore Ryan McMahon (6-3, 282) is on the watch list for the Rimington Trophy, awarded annually to the best center in the nation. Last year the converted d-lineman made every offensive snap.

Others? None to speak of. Coach Trickett likes to play his best guys until the final gun or they're carried off the field (that's where the relentless conditioning comes in). But truth be known, he has little choice. Besides Greenlee getting in the rotation at tackle, no other lineman is ready to step in and do the job. Which is why you might see FSU fans lighting votive candles before the game, praying that none of Trickett's starting five are injured.


Thanks Rich. Scott here again, with a question for Badger fans: What letter grade would you give our defensive line this year? A comment on Rich's blog on my breakdown says our D-Line is terrible and one of the smallest in the country. I certainly don't think that's true, but they're also not the Steel Curtain or all 300-pounders.

What's the line?

The other day Rich from Garnet and Great asked me the following question:

UW apparently has a huge D-line. Will it prevail against FSU's kiddie korps OL with three freshmen and two sophs? Keep in mind our OL Coach, Rick Trickett, likes 'em mean and lean -- akin to the Denver Broncos philosophy. Only one of his starters is over 300 lbs. -- and that's barely, at a svelte 301.

Here's how I answered:

It's funny, I've never thought of our defensive line as huge - our offensive line's girth is typically what gets the attention. Without knowing too much about FSU's offensive line and how it operates, here's a bit about our D-Line.

Defensive end Matt Shaughnessy goes about 6-6, 250. He's been an above-average contributor since he was a true freshman, but never took the leap to greatness. No matter, he can get to the passer, solid against the run, and is responsible on reverses and other gadget plays.

The other end, O'Brien Schofield, goes about 6-3, 230. He came here as an unheralded linebacker but has made himself into a nice player. Not dominant but often around the ball and opportunistic.

Defensive tackle Jason Chapman goes about 6-4, 285. End is his preferred position, but he's a pretty good tackle. He's quick off the ball, often to the point of either going offside or apearing to be offside. He hurt his knee last year and to me he hasn't been the same player as he was before.

The other tackle is Mike Newkirk, who's listed as 6-3, 264, but I don't think he's that big. A former champion wrestler, he's a good technique guy, but probably undersized at tackle. He made two really big plays in our comeback win over Minnesota, but other than that nothing sticks out to me.

Not much depth, which is going to kill us next year when three of those guys graduate. Dan Moore was brought here to give depth at tackle but he's playing end. Patrick Butrym and Jeff Stehle take some snaps at tackle but haven't made much of an impact.It's been noted by commenters on my blog that our defense, out of necessity, has adapted to be more effective against the Spread than traditional offenses. We got truly gashed twice this year, against Iowa and Penn State, which just killed us. Especially Iowa, Shonn Greene was running 10 yards downfield before benig touched.

If Florida State is anything like the smallish offensive line Minnesota used to field under Glen Mason, they can do some things, the Gophers always had success running the ball. Guess it depends on how good the smallish guys are!

Anything to add?

Florida State perspective

In the days following the announcement of our bowl game matchup with Florida State, I received friendly emails from two Seminole bloggers. Check out these sites for perspective on our Champs Sports opponent:

Chant Rant

Garnet and Great

FSU It's Time

Check them out, good stuff.

Rich, who runs the first two, saw my interest in learning more about Myron Rolle and sent this snippet:

Rolle was offered by most major schools. He could have gone to the Ivy League or a school with a brainier image (i.e., Vandy or Stanford). But as the #1 rated recruit he wanted a strong football program as well as academics. He chose FSU because he'd always been a fan, and because Fla. State was proactive.

Administrators tailored an academic "game plan" of how he could graduate in pre-med in just three years.To his credit, Rolle actually graduated in 2 1/2 years and has been a grad student this fall.

BTW, QB Christian Ponder (right) entered FSU at the same time as Rolle. He also graduated in 2 1/2 years with a 3.75 in Finance. So while he's a redshirt soph. on the roster, he's a currently a grad student studying for an MBA. Now if he could just turn that TD to INT equation around.

Didn't know that about Ponder, who apparently was Jay Valai's high school teammate.

UW-Idaho State thoughts

I'm in Cincinnati for company budget meetings and upon checking into my room at the Hannaford Suites tonight I was pleasantly surprised to find the Big Ten Network among the cable offerings. The Badgers were up 10-2 at the time, and I figured this would be a nice blowout to wipe away the Marquette loss.

Then the Badgers proceeded to let the visitors from Potato Land hang around for 32 minutes or so before doing enough to win close and ugly. I was never that worried, at least not until Pop for some reason charged into the lane early following his free throw miss with 2.1 seconds left, allowing Idaho State to set up a last-second attempt, but ...

It reminded me a lot of the North Dakota State game we somehow lost three seasons ago. The effort was there -- we had a ton of offensive boards -- but the shooting was putrid and the defense allowed a lot of really good looks. ISU shot 53 freaking percent! Maybe it will turn out Idaho State is pretty good, but this one still smells.

We also didn't ever truly put them away, even when our lead got near double-digits. Wisconsin is really struggling against zones right now, and I would expect we'll see a lot more as the season progresses. Why didn't Nankivil play more?

I'm not finding a lot of positives from this one, anyone got one?