SB Nation - Brandon Minor

Nothing but Time

Beauford — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:00:30 -0000

Time has a funny way of doing...things...for a lack of a better word. It can heal. It can bury. It can set on med-high and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. It can erase. It can embrace. It can fly. It can also tell a story. Last fall, I wrote what I consider to be the best post I've ever written. I called it "Myths and Legends." In it, I related that a myth, in some definition, is simply a story that has endured. The legends are the people who play a part. Michigan vs. Ohio State, in some form, is a myth. It's an ongoing story told over the past 10 decades, and paid for in sweat by those legends who have added to it. It has endured. Time has allowed for this story - the story of a simple game - to grow up; to become not-so-simple.

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And it's here, in 2009 (somehow) that we sit down on the eve of the next chapter. Michigan is a mess. And yet, for all the things that time can do, the one thing it can't is back-up. There is no other direction, in life, or in this mythical story of Michigan vs. Ohio State; there is NO DIRECTION other than forward. Tomorrow, at noon eastern time, the next chapter is written. After the game, it will go into the past as a part of the myth written by THESE LEGENDS. Not the legends of past; they've had their shot. THESE LEGENDS will be the men who run under that banner on Saturday and play with a ferocity that you, or I, or anybody who has never participated in the myth will never know. These are the legends of 2009. These young men who get to directly experience something that many pay a good amount of money to simply watch.

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Tomorrow, young men will go to the stadium, like they have every other Saturday, and put on their armor. It marks the end for some. It marks the beginning for others.

These are your legends. These are the men with whom I take the field. It's stupid, I know, to think this way. Sports are like that. But when you watch these men, some over the course of 4 years, you feel like you know them a little bit. And you live and die with that. This is the end for Brandon Graham, Brandon Minor, Zoltan Mesko, and the one we call Coner. It's the beginning for Tate Forcier, Vincent Smith, Denard Robinson, and Roy Roundtree. Nothing changes about this game except that time forces it along it's way, establishing new legends, and new chapters to add to the voluminous history. This year might be tough, but this is my team, and once again I'm left with the simple conclusion:

You are Ohio State. And we're going to beat your ass.

5th Quarter Consensus: Badgers win third straight

Jbharris87 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:18:48 -0000

More photos » by Andy Manis - AP

about 1 month ago: Wisconsin's Aaron Henry (7) runs off the field after Wisconsin's 37-0 victory over Purdue in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Madison, Wis. Henry recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Browse more photos »

Michigan at Wisconsin

Kickoff: 11 a.m. CT

Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wis.

Weather Forecast: 53F, Cloudy, 20% chance of rain

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: WIBA-AM 1310, WIBA-FM 101.5 and the Badgers Radio Network

Coverage: A week's worth of coverage at Bucky's 5th Quarter

The Consensus

Jake Harris (8-1, +134): Wisconsin 42, Michigan 28

Adam Hoge (8-1, +137): Wisconsin 27, Michigan 17

Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com): Wisconsin 31, Michigan 20

The Reasoning

Wisconsin is clearly the better team right now, having won its last two games and sitting pretty at 7-2 overall. Michigan has lost its last five Big Ten games and has yet to win on the road this season. Expect the Badger running backs to find success against a weak Wolverine defense. John Clay is the conference's leading rusher, and he is healthy again after a head injury knocked him out of last week's game against Indiana.

Offensively, Michigan is expected to give Denard Robinson significant playing time at quarterback, after Tate Forcier has proven somewhat ineffective the past several weeks. Robinson is a gifted athlete, but Wisconsin's defense matches up well against him. He has a very shaky arm, which may mask some of the Badgers' problems in pass coverage. Wisconsin is tops against the run in conference play, so expect it to contain Robinson's ground game much the way it did Terrelle Pryor's. Still, Michigan does boast the top scoring offense in the Big Ten, so they will likely put up points. Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor are no slouches at running back, but wide receiver Martavious Odoms will be playing hurt.

The home team has won each of the last five games in this series, with Michigan dropping its last two at Camp Randall Stadium. The Wolverines are playing for bowl eligibility, but the Badgers love beating Michigan and have played with a purpose this season. The Badgers' proficient running game and stout defense will be enough in Madison.

Who has the edge?

Offense: Wisconsin

Defense: Wisconsin

Special Teams: Michigan

Coaching: Wisconsin

Intangibles: Wisconsin

-Jake Harris

Poll

Who you got Saturday, Michigan or Wisconsin?

Michigan by 1-9

1 votes

Michigan by 10 or more

2 votes

Wisconsin by 1-9

5 votes

Wisconsin by 10 or more

15 votes

23 votes | Poll has closed

Agony of Defeat: Are There Any Meaningful Streaks Left?

SCM — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:24:12 -0000

This team has managed to find new and varied ways to tear its fans' hearts out over the past month and a half and yesterday was no exception. A classic recipe of a crippling turnover, a genius playcall by the opposing coach, a missed extra point, and just to top it off a horrifying booth review all combined to stick the needle to Michigan in ways that never cease to be cruel. My heart goes out to these players though, they're fighting their tails off. Oh and let's just get this out of the way at the outset: I cannot conceive of a situation where anyone could possibly defend the overturn on that crucial replay late in the game. Not one. There was absolutely nothing in any of those replays that could've overturned the call on the field, which was a 1st and goal Michigan. It was horrible and I'm now done talking about it, I promise.

For the second year in a row neither of these teams' defenses were able to put up much of a front against the offenses and it made for an extremely entertaining/frustrating-as-hell football game. I certainly tip my cap to Coach Hope for the onside kick call: nobody in the stadium and certainly nobody at home was looking for that and it couldn't have worked out more perfectly for Purdue. I felt as though Purdue formulated a great gameplan to focus on this defense's obvious deficiencies and they executed it well enough to come away with the win, I mean Joey Elliot lit us up for 367 yards and looked downright good doing it (both picks were tips and not exactly his fault). As rage inducing as yesterday's loss was for Michigan fans, I do think there are a few things we can take away from the loss moving forward. I'll cover more of this later, but we've known for some time that the defense is... well it is what it is. This isn't trying to carve out a moral win in any way, shape, or form, but rather just pointing out that amidst the overall continuing struggle, some aspects of this team's game noticeably stepped up yesterday afternoon. The Michigan O put more than enough points on the board to win this football game, but when it comes down to it, a missed extra point (among other issues) proved to be just too much to overcome in the end... sigh.

Miscellaneous

- Boiled Sports had a few things to say about Rodriguez's post-game comments regarding Hope's low-class move after the game. Quite frankly, who the hell cares? Nobody, that's who. Hope apparently didn't like Rodriguez calling out a blatant cheap shot several weeks ago that just so happened to be by a Purdue player. Of course Rodriguez's singling out of this play has nothing to do with the fact that it was Purdue and Hope but EVERYTHING to do with the fact that the Big 10 conference set itself up as judge and jury of such actions earlier in the season. Hope naturally is too uncouth to understand this and so instead of focusing on his team's great win, Hope figured he'd really stick it to Rodriguez. What a class act. BS continues on to make a rather insight-less rant about Rodriguez's future and generally looks foolish doing so, which is pretty apropos actually. How about you lads stick to topics you actually know something about and celebrate your once in a generation win with some class? Too much to ask?

- Navy managed to put a small grin on my face yesterday afternoon, congrats to them.

- Stanford hanging 51 on Oregon gets a "WOW" if you ask me.

- I had a feeling Ohio State would be able to contain Penn State's offense, but I wasn't sure how well the Buckeye offense and Pryor would hold up against Penn State's D... that Ohio State won wasn't surprising, how they won was.

- Iowa losing to Northwestern was pretty cruel not that I have any sympathy for them... but that they lost Stanzi in doing so is pouring a really wealthy helping of salt in the wound.

Offense

- The offense came alive again yesterday for really the first time since the Iowa game, and managed to sustain it for the majority of the game. I loved the game plan, I loved how well Tate played, and I felt that all in all there were some noticeable steps taken. The switch to the two-back set was a true revelation. Michigan's first four drives netted 24 points, which, YAY.

- 12 points in the second half.... Missed FG, and of course that other thing that I said I wouldn't mention again played into that.

- [Edit] I forgot to mention in the initial post that I fail to understand why we didn't kick the FG on 4th and 10 down eight points in the game... This is the second time in the past few weeks I've really questioned an in-game decision by our coaching staff regarding coming back from a deficit... that's concerning if you ask me.

- I continue to be flummoxed about how on plays like crucial two-point conversions we don't have two or three "go-to" plays that you can run that you know the opposing team has not seen or prepared for. At the very least don't you have to roll Tate out and give him the option to run or throw there? Arg.

- Great balance, 11 first downs rushing, 11 first downs passing. 427 yards of total offense. Michigan's rushing offense put up 215 yards on the ground and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Listen, missed FG and EP or not, the offense did more than enough to win this football game. That's not something we could've said the last two weeks.

- Tate Forcier made a lot of great throws yesterday, and ended up 15/24 for 212 yards and 1 TD. Of course he also made one big mistake on the option pitch, but the rest of his decision making was much improved. With something bordering on a remotely competent defense, that one turnover is not nearly as huge as it ended up being yesterday. All in all it was as good of a game he's played in the last six weeks, which is incredibly encouraging if you ask me. Much less freelancing, much more sticking within the system. Amen.

- Brandon Minor really gutted out a heck of a performance yesterday afternoon, which honestly was the first time this year he looked anywhere close to the player we saw towards the end of last season. 154 yards and 3 TDs, he did everything he could to carry this team, hats off to you Brandon.

- Roy Roundtree, much to the chagrin of Purdue faithful during the game I'm sure, had a fantastic day and has really stepped up in Martavious Odoms' absence. His emergence is another positive sign for this football team going forward. Forcier has been targeting him more and more since he made it into the lineup and the fact that he had seven more catches than any other Michigan receiver yesterday certainly emphasizes that point.

- The offensive line turned in a better performance this week, although I suspect a lot of the improvement also lies with going with the two back set for the majority of the day.

Defense

- I'm not going to re-invent the wheel here, the unit is easily worse than it was last year, which is to say it's really bad. A few positives from yesterday though: a first half where they limited Purdue to 10 points and really did a great job after the opening drive. Also, two forced turnovers, which was great to see after the drought heading into this game.

- I am not going to write the same thing over and over and over again in this space regarding the negatives and deficiencies, they have been well illustrated and have not really changed, and honestly I don't have any new insight into any of them. The following are points that I think could at least be addressed in some small way with two weeks to go and our bowl lives depending on a win against two solid/better-than-solid football teams...

- Tackling. For the sake of our sanity, wrap the ball carrier up. With the way some of our guys are tackling I'd be just fine with moving Kovacs, who has been downright decent in anything that doesn't require him to cover much faster guys downfield, up with the LBs and.... oh wait, we have absolutely no one else at safety, nevermind... sigh.

- Do not, under any circumstances, get beat deep. Why even put the safeties in a position where they have to come up and then drop into coverage? Just don't let it happen. We can't give up easy points and one play drives. I would love to see our corners playing tighter more frequently, but you have to keep the safeties back.

- I almost think that we need to move Woolfolk back to safety at this point and try someone else at corner... I don't know who that would be, but I don't see nearly as much issue at corner as I do at our safety positions. If Woolfolk can perform back there more effectively than Williams then that is where he should be.

- I really appreciate all the great work put in over at mgoblog detailing the disaster that has been our trying to keep defensive talent on the team over the past four years. It illustrates in an incredibly clear way just how little we're actually working with here. I honestly do not know what else Robinson and company can do with this defense, the areas of weakness are too numerous to mask or hide.

Special Teams

- Ugh.

- Giving up the onside kick was bad, it was a great call, but yeeeeeeeeeeesh.

- Olesnavage has been nothing short of rock-solid all year, and his performance yesterday was one of the more perplexing aspects of the game if you ask me. A missed extra point was the dagger, but his miss on the 48 yard FG in the 4th was also enormous. There's no harm in missing a 48 yard FG don't get me wrong, but he dead nailed the 51 yarder earlier in the game going the same way, so I was entirely confident in him prior to that kick. He's still had a great year but yesterday will be one he'd like to forget I'm sure.

-------

So, yep. Another loss, another week of speculation and dampened hopes. I don't really know what to say in this space, we're going to Wisconsin, who lest you forget absolutely housed Purdue 37-0 a week ago... so yeah. I just cannot believe the events of these last two weeks. We've given up a tidy 1000 yards and 76 points to the likes of Purdue and Illinois. What do you want me to say? OT losses to Michigan State and narrow defeats to the likes of Iowa on the road are things that any football team can experience and are hardly a warning sign of impending doom. But for this team, to be in the position they were in two weeks ago and to have come through those two weeks at 0-2 is beyond explanation. It is on coaching, it is on execution, and it's on a team that also can't seem to buy a break since the calendar hit October. These last two weeks represent a blown opportunity that may well cost this team for years to come. Not in terms of coaching stays, I refuse to believe that Michigan would act rashly in that regard, but rather in terms of both practice and recruiting. Last year's team managed to win two conference games. We're a true freshman's heroics away from not having won a single conference game this season. That is so bad it defies words.

But (you knew there would be a but didn't you?), a win in these next two weeks would go miles (haha, not a pun I promise). It would mean Michigan actually did something along the lines of either beating a downright solid team on the road or doing the unthinkable and beating Ohio State for the first time in half a decade (which would instantly cure all ills as far as 90% of the fanbase is concerned). It would mean they somehow pulled this thing out of the fire for 60 mintues, banded together, and played their tails off. Likely? No, not really. Conceivable? If the offense plays the way it's capable of playing and the defense stops the bleeding long enough to tackle someone... then yes. A win would push the record to a wholly unsatisfying 6-6, but a record that produced 3 more wins than last season and one that many at the outset of the year were throwing around as a somewhat pessimistic prediction.... and that was before we had any idea our defense would be this bad.

A lot of talk around the start of this season centered on whether or not we'd make "the leap"... I never would've really considered that half team would make it and the other half would go in the complete opposite direction. The offense is better in every conceivable way, the system does in fact work, and it is working with youth and backups in key areas still. The defense, the defense is as decimated in terms of talent as any unit I can ever remember at this program. The lack of any kind of continuity at the head of the defensive coaching staff likely doesn't help here. There are coaching decisions on defense that I have not understood or agreed with, but I do not think snap evaluations of Greg Robinson's tenure at this point are based on anything called "logic" or "reason". We're working at a significant talent deficiency compared to every other team in the conference on the defensive side of the football. That is a fact. It's something we cannot hide and cannot fix immediately.

If this team is going to salvage anything from this year, a year that brought joy for a whole month, then they're going to have do it by out-gunning people. It is what it is, and it's not going to suddenly change over the next two weeks of practice. So c'mon Blue, go out there and fight your hearts out.

Michigan preview

BoilerTMill — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:59:54 -0000

It has come to this. All of the dreams we have of playing in a bowl this football season come down to winning in Ann Arbor. Doing so would be the first such victory since Griese was at quarterback. I don't mean Brian in the late 90's for the Wolverines either. Our favorite taco-loving announcer was Purdue's quarterback on October 15, 1966 when we won 22-21 in Ann Arbor.

It is a difficult position to be in, but I wouldn't have it any other way. When I was in school, I always tackled the hardest projects first. I knew if I could finish them, everything else would be easy. That is what we face now. Winning at Michigan is the most difficult of our remaining three games. Win, and we have a better chance to win the final two games. Lose, and it is all about building for next year.

Before the season, this was the only loss I had put in sharpie, as the Boiled Sports guys say. I even gave us a chance against Ohio State at home because we play the Buckeyes well and we were at home. Michigan is quite different. In the three victories over Michigan I have personally witnessed (1996, 2000, 2008) we have had to hang on until the final play in each one. Don't even get me started on our visits to Ann Arbor, which have gone as follows:

1969: L 20-31

1972: L 6-9

1974: L 0-51

1975: L 0-28

1978: L 6-24

1980: L 0-26 (This loss cost us the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl that season)

1982: L 21-52

1983: L 10-42

1985: L 0-47

1989: L 27-42

1991: L 0-42

1993: L 10-25

1995: L 0-5

1999: L 12-38 (Our other four losses that season were by a touchdown or less)

2001: L 10-24

2003: L 3-31 (This also cost us the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl)

2007: L 21-48

That is 17 straight losses at the Big House. In six of those games we didn't even score a single point. Kyle Orton, Drew Brees, Mark Herrman, and Jim Everett never even came close to a win. Shoot, Rick Trefzger in 1995 came closer than any of them. This is what we have to look forward to on Saturday. There is good news though: Joey Elliott led a pair of touchdown drives in the last two minutes during our last visit, so he had a better game in half a quarter than most Purdue quarterbacks.

A rare close game by Purdue at the Big House.

2009 Record: 5-4, 1-4 Big Ten

2008 Record: 3-9, 2-6 Big Ten

Bowl Result: none

Blog Representation: MGoBlog, MVictors, Varsity Blue, Michigan Sports Center, iBlog for Cookies, Maize'n'Brew, Maize & Blue Nation

Series with Purdue: Michigan leads 41-13-0

Last Purdue win: 11/1/2008 at Purdue 48-42

Last Michigan win: 10/13/2007 at Michigan 48-21

It is hard to believe that Michigan started 4-0, but their one win since came in a D-1AA exhibition against Delaware State. Even more unbelievably, they got drilled by an awful Illinois team last week. I can't figure this team out right now. They haven't even been competitive the last two weeks against two teams (Penn State and Illinois) they have historically dominated.

Michigan offense:

The key to any victory this time around will be stopping the Wolverines in the first quarter. Michigan has scored 111 points this season it the first quarter of their nine games. By comparison, they have just 28 third quarter points in that time. If we can prevent them from jumping on us early we have a chance. I am also encouraged that they run a similar offensive style to Oregon. Our defense did a good job of stopping the Ducks (remember, 17 of the 38 points given up were because of turnovers) and Oregon has better personnel running it.

We will definitely see two quarterbacks. Tate Forcier (107-193-5) has nine touchdowns and 1,429 yards passing. He is by far the bigger passing threat. Denard Robinson (11-22-4) has two touchdowns and 179 yards passing. With four interceptions in 22 attempts we want him to throw. Make no mistake. This is by far a run first team. Robinson has rushed for 287 yards and five touchdowns while Forcier has 214 and two scores.

Even though we won last year, we couldn't stop an offense that had struggled all year. They have been more successful this season, so we had better hope we have improved in that area. Brandon Minor (332-5) had a field day against us, going for a career high 155 yards and three scores, but he has been battling injuries of late. Carlos Brown (465-4) leads the team in rushing, but Michigan is at its best when it is spreading the ball around in the running game. Vincent Smith (208-1) and Michael Shaw (181-2) have been known to get in on the action too.

While Michigan's passing game isn't highly productive, it is balanced. Martavious Odoms (22-272-1) is the leading receiver, but Greg Mathews (18-204-1), Kevin Koger (15-211-2), Junior Hemingway (13-233-2), and Darryl Stonum (12-189-1) provide balance across the board. Roy Roundtree, yes that Roy Roundtree, has produced 6 catches for 136 yards and a score.

Michigan has had some issues of late with the offensive line. The unit has given up 19 sacks on the season, and has had some trouble opening holes for the running game. This is not a hulking line like Wisconsin's last week. Four of five starters are under 300 pounds, while Stephen Schilling is the biggest guy at 304 pounds. We should have some room to operate and be disruptive with our defensive line this week.

Michigan Defense:

This is where Purdue has struggled historically. They have been unable to generate any points against the Wolverines. In the four games in which Purdue topped 20 points during this streak most of them came after game was well decided. It is not so much that Michigan has had a lights out defense in that time. It has just been that Purdue has been unable to do anything against it.

Our offensive line could have its hands full with Brandon Graham at the end position., Graham has 6.5 sacks on the season, 17.5 tackles for loss, and is generally a disruptive force in the defensive backfield. Defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen (32 tackles, four sacks) can also cause some problems. Michigan typically goes with a 3-4 set as opposed to the 4-3's we have seen most of the year. That means faster linebackers will be on the field, but there could be more room to run.

Obi Ezeh is the most active of those linebackers, leading the team with 63 tackles. Stevie Brown (55 tackles), Jonas Mouton (53 tackles) and Craig Roh the the remaining linebackers. It is an interesting mix of youth and experience as Ezeh, Mouton, and Brown are seniors while Roh is a true freshman.

Michigan has had some problems in the secondary. Donovan Warren is a solid cornerback with three interceptions, but they are hurting from the loss of Boubacar Cissoko, who was dismissed form the team before last week's game against Illinois. Troy Woolfolk and Michael Williams man the safety positions, but neither has an interception this season.

Michigan should be more vulnerable to the running game than Wisconsin. Illinois went nuts on the ground last week, and they had no discernable running game until two weeks ago. Their pass defense has been suspect as well. If we can limit turnovers and get back to moving the ball we might have a chance.

Michigan Special Teams:

Behold Zoltan, destroyer of worlds! Zoltan Mesko, aside from having the coolest name in the Big Ten, is a pretty good punter averaging almost 45 yards per kick. It's not like we have a punt return game anyway, so we should get ready to field deep kicks.

Jason Olesnavage is a decent kicker, hitting on 8 of 9 field goals with a long of 44. Bryan Wright is actually a kickoff specialist apart from Olesnavage and Mesko. He is holding teams to about 22 yards per return. Michigan's return game itself is pretty dangerous. We all know what Odoms did to us last year. Stonum has a kickoff return for a touchdown. Also of note, Graham has a blocked punt returned for a score, but it was against Delaware State.

Intangibles:

Do I really need to point it out? The Boiled Sports guys and I discussed how a new coaching staff and new players can make a difference. They do not have the history of the 17 game losing streak on them. The truth is that it hasn't mattered. Every team we have taken up there, with different players, coaches, and philosophies, has gotten drilled for the past 43 years. I gave up two years ago when I went to the game and saw us fall behind 48-7 to a team that got worked by a 1-AA squad. This team has reached a rare level for me. I won't believe we can win there until I see it happen. I held the same attitude toward Notre Dame Stadium until 2004, but even then we had a series of close losses leading up to that win. There is no such history here.

Michigan has ownership over us on their home field rarely seen in college football. It is not that they have won 17 straight. They have done it with just two games being remotely close. Yes we have had some bad teams in this streak, but we have had some very good teams (1999, 2001, and 2003 were all in the top 15 at kickoff) get drilled in Ann Arbor. Technically in 2007 we were ranked at game time, so we have taken a ranked team in our last four trips to the Big House and been outscored 141-46. That is even with two meaningless touchdowns late in our last game.

The numbers are just not there to make me believe we can suddenly turn it around. Right now, I feel more confident about winning in any other venue in the Big Ten, maybe even the country, than I do about winning in Ann Arbor.

Keys to the Game for Purdue:

Catch the football
Limit turnovers
Limit special teams mistakes
Play against the run like we did against Oregon
Don't crap ourselves like we always do in Ann Arbor.

Who Carries The Mail Here?

SCM — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:45:36 -0000

Quick post on something I was wondering about this morning. This won't address the defense, I won't pretend to have any ideas there. So anyways, onward!

	Minor		Brown		Forcier		Robinson
	Att	Yards	Att	Yards	Att	Yards	Att	Yards
MSU	4	2	6	15	13	27	3	-9
Iowa	22	95	X	X	8	26	9	49
PSU	12	48	8	42	14	10	4	20
Totals	38	145	14	57	35	63	16	60
Avg	12.667	48.333	7	28.5	11.667	21	5.333	20

Furrowed brow inducing indeed... How about total carries thus far in the season?

	Carries	Games Played
Minor	69	6
Brown	52	7
Forcier	72	8*
Robinson	51	8

So, um, two senior tailbacks (albeit dinged up senior tailbacks) have accounted for 121 touches on the ground thus far this season, while our two freshmen at quarterback have rung up 123 touches. Wow. I went into this thinking that the bulk of the carries had primarily shifted toward our QBs in our losses, but not really (MSU not withstanding): in our defeats Brown and Minor have combined for 52 carries while Foricer and Robinson have had 51. Of course, one must also remember that sacks count as carries in our game here, so factor that in as well, but even with that, I mean... just wow.

Dinged up or not, Minor and Brown need to touch the football more in this offense. I made a breif point about this in the game summary post on Sunday, but we need to pound the football. Please note, I don't mean I-form off-tackle left "pound the football", I mean get back to actually running the read option and making defenses have to react to what we're doing type of football. 10 touches for Brown/Minor against MSU was criminally bad, 20 against Penn State was more misdemeanorly (English, they say, is a generative language). What happened to the cool little pitch play we ran against Iowa?

So, what's that mean for Illinois? Well... Illinois ranks 101st in the nation in rushing defense, allowing more than 180 yards per game. Total D? 104th Scoring D? 84th. Passing D? 78th. So here's what I would do:

- GIVE BRANDON MINOR AND CARLOS BROWN THE FOOTBALL!! I cannot believe I'm begging for this, but go watch Chris Perry's 51 carry game against MSU and then approximate it this week. Hell I don't care if we run the football 80% of the time on Saturday, just do what we do well until someone manages to stop it, please. The Illinois run defense is god-awful, we're on the road at night [errrr, or 3:30... my bad, thought this was a late game this whole week for some reason, -Ed] with two freshmen QBs who need some confidence boosting right now, put the workload on the O-line and the backs please. I will be seriously disappointed if those two don't combine for 35 carries or more tomorrow night.

- If you're going to throw roll Forcier out almost every single time. If Robinson is in, not "almost" but EVERY single time. Go back to the Western and ND games and look at how we managed our passing game, go back to that. Simplify things back to that level and put it in. More bubble screens like what we saw last week wouldn't be a shabby idea either. Simple reads, simple throws.

- Don't let the Illinois defense get free/easy stops. If we force them to stay on the field for extended amounts of time we will bust some big plays on this team. Hang on to the football. We reverted back to the '08 vintage of giving the ball away against Penn State and Iowa, we cannot afford to do that, we're not good enough to do that. Ball security lads, and no short fields for Illinois please.

And no, the nice juxtaposition of me post lasting week whether JoePa would throw "rock" and then me practically begging our staff to do that now is not lost on me. Oh and reminder from who else? Wolverine Historian:

Grading the Penn State Defense Against Michigan

BSD — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:15:22 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

about 1 month ago: Penn State linebacker Josh Hull (43) sacks Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier (5) during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Browse more photos »

Oh, we heard a lot of talk about the Penn State defense before the game. Who had they played? They hadn't seen a rushing offense like Michigan. I think one of our resident BSD Wolverine fans predicted Minor and Brown BOTH going over 100 yards with Forcier getting another 60. So much for that, huh?

Defensive Line

Outside of that first series, they absolutely dominated the Wolverines who only gained 110 yards on the ground. This is the team that led the Big Ten averaging 235 yards per game

. Jared Odrick's 2 tackles and 0.5 TFL don't accurately illustrate how dominating he was. Eating up two blockers on pretty much every play, he disrupted everything Michigan wanted to do. And he should have had a safety but he overran the tackles and let Forcier get it away. On the next play he had the center so nervous the kid snapped the ball right out the back of the endzone.

Jack Crawford had perhaps his best day yet. After getting sucked inside on a few fake handoffs, he settled into his assignment and finished with 3 tackles, all for a loss, and a sack. He also forced the fumble on Robinson late in the game. In all the line finished with 13 tackles, 6.5 TFL, and 3 sacks. Devon Still and true freshman Jordan Hill recorded the other two sacks which makes me feel good about next year after Odrick is gone.

Final Grade: A

Linebackers

What can be said about Lavorro at this point? Not much, really, so I'll just point at the scoreboard: 11 tackles (6 solo), 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT, and 1 sack. As I predicted, Penn State held him back as a spy in passing situations and it worked to perfection. Every time Forcier tried to get out of the pocket to improvise, Bowman was there to drop him or make him get rid of it. By the end of the first quarter Forcier looked like a deer in the headlights. Welcome to the Big Ten, kid.

The Hull-stache had another great day with 10 tackles (6 solo), 2.5 TFL, and a sack. It must be the mustache, because this is not the same player we saw Brandon Minor dragging for 8 yard gains last year.

Bani Gbadyu and Sean Lee split time and combined for 8 tackles. Chris Colasanti got in the game briefly, and Forcier made him look silly by faking him out of his jock on a QB keeper.

Final Grade: A

Secondary

I'll say this: When the coaches let them man up and play, they did well. More on that later. Forcier only managed 140 yards on less than 50% passing. He threw the pick to Astorino, and was sacked five times. Many of the sacks on Forcier were coverage sacks where he couldn't find a man open. There were very few mistakes by the group other than a missed tackle or two.

Final Grade: A

Special Teams

Another so-so performance. Jeremy Boone has to shorten his windup for his punts. That's two he has had blocked this year, and you can bet every team from here on out will be gunning for him.

Collin Wagner hit his two short field goal attempts. Two of his seven kickoffs went for touchbacks. So it was a good day for him. The kickoff coverage team seems to get it now and they are holding down the big returns. At least I don't remember my heart skipping a beat as they make a shoe string tackle to prevent six points this week.

But our own kick returns were much improved highlighted by Chaz Powell's 54 yard return to open the second half.

The punt return game...seriously guys. Absolutely terrible. I shouldn't complain because they are catching the ball, but what was up with Zug catching the ball and starting to run only to find out Drew Astorino called for a fair catch? It's like the Keystone Cops out there. Let's put the dual return man thing to bed. There is absolutely nothing dynamic about our punt return game right now. Something tells me Joe Paterno likes it that way.

Final Grade: C

Defensive Coaching

Okay, so what happened on that first drive? For starters, Michigan had obviously been scripting those plays and practicing them for the past two weeks. They ran with no huddle and everyone obviously knew what they were supposed to do. Penn State had no time to make adjustments or switch personnel. That was a big factor in the drive.

As far as I can tell, the uncertainty surrounding the no huddle forced Penn State to go into some very simple base defensive sets. You know what means, right? Good ol' Cover-3. Forcier took advantage of the soft coverage three times for passes of 7, 7, and 20 yards. The big pass came when Sukay missed a tackle on a short screen. Crawford got sucked into a fake handoff allowing Forcier to gain 8 yards on one play. The rest of the drive was a lot of Carlos Brown and Minor RAGE for decent carries in the 6-8 yard range. But there were also some short 1 and 2 yard gains won by the defense.

Give credit to Michigan on that drive. They came out and hit Penn State in the mouth. I see a lot of Michigan blogs and fans asking why they got away from the running game after that drive, but truthfully, two out of Michigan's first three plays were good sized passing gains. Penn State tightened up the coverage after that and Michigan couldn't answer.

Checking the stats today, it is a beautiful sight. Penn State leads the conference in every single defensive statistic. Awesome.

Final Grade: A

Penn State 35, Michigan 10: Kneel Before Zug

Run Up The Score — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:12:07 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

about 1 month ago: Penn State defenders celebrate a fumble recover during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Your eyes weren't deceiving you -- Michigan's first offensive drive against Penn State looked a lot like their first quarter performance against the Lions last year in Happy Valley. Tate Forcier and Brandon Minor led a steady, precise 70 yard touchdown drive against little resistance from the Nittany Lions. There was good reason for concern, but the afternoon quickly turned into complete domination by Penn State. It was not just a solid road win against a pretty good team. The Lions came together and produced their best showing of the season, one week after their last-best performance of 2009.

Wish you could play Iowa next week? Me too, although nothing appears to be stopping that freight train anymore. And for the record, you haven't lived until you've perused the BHGP comments from last night's liveblog and this morning's afterglow. Hard not to root for those people.

Back to Penn State and Michigan. You know it's a good game when the reporters from the other side use terms like "scared" and "panicked". Daryll Clark threw four touchdowns -- three of them to tiny white possession receiver Graham Zug. After Michigan's opening scoring drive, they racked up a grand total of three points and 180 yards over the final 56 minutes of the game.

What flipped Penn State's switch? A little confidence from the top.

So on Friday night at the team hotel, Paterno provided a pick-me-up to his players.

"He said, 'I've been telling you guys how good I think you are. It's time you tell me how good you are, and go out and play that way,'" Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said. "It was a great moment [Friday] night. When they left the snack last night, they were all pumped up."

The younger Paterno walked up to senior quarterback Daryll Clark after the meeting.

"He goes, 'Damn, I'm ready now,'" Jay said.

Joe Paterno's attitude adjustment continued in the moments before the game:

Paterno continued to emphasize his point in the stadium tunnel moments before kickoff.

"Both teams come out of the same tunnel, and we were waiting for Michigan to go down [first]," Clark said. "They're going rah-rah and making a lot of noise, running down the tunnel. We looked over and Joe and he's jumping up and down, talking about, 'Yeah, yeah.'

"I'm looking at him and I'm like, 'OK, it's time to play some football.'"

And so it went for Penn State, a week that began with questions about the remnants of the losing streak against Michigan, and a game that began with a cold, cutting Michigan touchdown drive ended with the Lions repeatedly dropping the hammer on a helpless Wolverine team. Penn State, with its wholly flawed national resume and the clunker against Iowa now officially in the background, established itself as a BCS contender and appears to be peaking at the right time.

Wha Happened? Week Seven

RossWB — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:52:41 -0000

Things shockingly got even worse for The Zooker, The Terrelle Pryor Experiment took another bodyblow, and Michigan beat the holy bejesus out of a team... read on to find out exactly Wha Happened? in Week Seven in the Big Ten.

Obviously, a TOTALLY REPRESENTATIVE AND ACCURATE look at OSU fans' feelings about yesterday's result.

Purdue 26, Ohio State 18
Oh, LOLeyes. Clinching the Big Ten record for most consecutive road wins? UR DOIN IT WRONG. In hindsight, perhaps the warning signs had been staring us in the face for a while. They blanked Illinois, but since the Illini may be the worst BCS team of the year, that win is looking a lot less meaningful (and Pryor was a dreadful passer in that game, foreshadowing his future woes). They beat Indiana decisively, but Pryor was unable to light up a middle of the road Hoosier defense that true freshman Tate Forcier shredded a week earlier. A week ago, the LOLeyes beat Wisconsin in one of the most statistically deranged games you'll see this year; Pryor was again dreadful, but the defense and special teams bailed him out. Well, three weeks of average-to-poor play out of him finally caught up to the LOLeyes and yesterday no one could bail him out: not the defense (they gave up 361 total yards, including 281 through the air to Joey Elliott), not the special teams (no return touchdowns or blocked kicks), not the running game (66 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries). Pryor, meanwhile, was fairly miserable -- he threw for 221 yards, but only on 17/31 completions, and had two interceptions and two fumbles. Terrelle Pryor's improvement as a quarterback in whatever mishmash of an offensive system Ohio State is running continues to be virtually imperceptible and as beastly as the Ohio State defense has been, even they can't cover up the offense's crippling ineffectiveness indefinitely. So what now for the LOLeyes, on the heels of the worst loss of the Sweatervest Era? Good news! The even-more-offensively inept Minnesota Golden LOLpher attack is coming to town.

Meanwhile, we would be remiss if we did not doff our preferred headgear of choice (this, if you must know) to the Fightin' Danny Hopes of Purdue University. Coming off the heels of back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back gutpunch losses in which they treated the football as if it was radioactive rather than an important implement in scoring points and winning football games, it would have been easy for the Boilermakers to check out on this season and start plotting how to get the good seats for the basketball team's MURDERDEATHKILL quest for a Big Ten championship (hey, it could totally happen). Especially against a top ten opponent who had been unbeatable on the road for almost four years. Instead, the nattily-mustachioed Danny Hope (his 'stache has neither the smooth curves nor the warm bushiness of the Tiller 'stache, but it has a firm tidiness that connotes determination, grit, and other manly qualities; Conrad Hilton would no doubt nod approvingly and ask for a stiff drink before making some completely batshit request... but we digress) rallied his train-loving troops to play two spirited halves of football, be the turnover forcers rather than the turnover forcees (although they did cough up the ball three times; old habits die hard), and generally outplay and outhustle the vastly more talented LOLeyes. Enjoy this win; a bowl may be an improbable dream this year (though if they can take wins from Illinois and their Hoosier state arch-rivals, they'd only need to steal two of three from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State... difficult but perhaps not impossible), but a win over a top-ten opponent will be a sweet memory for years to come.

An apt metaphor for the Ron Zook Era.

Indiana 27, Illinois 14
By all the evidence on display, Ron Zook has apparently forgotten that he's supposed to be coaching a football team this season; instead, he's intent on becoming the limbo champion of Middle Western America. "How low can you go, " indeed. A year ago, substantially this same Illinois team beat Indiana to the tune of 55-13. Juice looked good (16/22, 271 passing yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions) and Jason Ford looked like the future of the Illinois running game (19 carries, 172 yards, three touchdowns). Heady days. Since then, Illinois has gone 1-9 against BCS-level competition (don't ask us about the one win; it just makes us sad). In fact, this year in five games against BCS-level competition, Illinois has scored a combined 54 points. This isn't just a bad team... it's increasingly looking like a historically bad team. And that's before you even factor in the shocking "Rose Bowl to Big Ten cellar in two years" fall from grace or the much-touted recruiting classes that were supposed to take Illinois to the promised land. In 2009, "massive disappointment" is spelled F-I-G-H-T-I-N-I-L-L-I-N-I. As for Indiana... good show, sport. Illinois is only nominally a BCS-level opponent, but, hell, any port in a storm after the 47-7 failstorm that happened last week against Virginia.

Like the Penn State defense, an effective means of eradicating Gophers.

Penn State 20, Minnesota 0
FUN FACT! Did you know that Minnesota and Penn State play for a trophy? It's true -- it's called the Governor's Victory Bell. Minnesota hasn't held that trophy since 2004. FUNNER FACT! Minnesota is 3-17 in their last 20 games played for a trophy. The last time they won one was Iowa in 2006, also known as the "Drew Tate Loses His Fucking Shit and Tries to Murder Herb Grigsby Game." Anyway, this game. Unless you have a defense and special teams unit that can score touchdowns on their own (see: Ohio State a week ago) or possess a hyper-efficient and prolific offense led by a sure-fire Hall of Famer (see: the Indianapolis Colts' Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins) , it's generally a good idea to at least stay reasonably close when it comes to total offensive yards gained and time of possession. The Gophers don't possess a playmaking defense or an explosive special teams unit. They also don't have a legendary quarterback or an offense loaded with elite weapons. They have the mysteriously regressing Adam Weber (on pace for by far his worst year in three years as a starting quarterback) at quarterback and one (1) elite offensive weapon, Eric Decker. So letting Penn State roll up well over three hundred yards more than the LOLphers gained and control the ball for 42 minutes was, in hindsight, a bit of a bad idea. Well, like Coach Brew always says: TRY FIGHT ~~WIN~~ GET BITCHMADE.

More rockin' than anything about the LOLcats this season.

Michigan State 24, Northwestern 14
justNorthwestern scored the first and last touchdowns yesterday; unfortunately, they let Sparty rattle off 24 straight points in-between those scores. For the umpteenth game in a row their running game was a complete non-entity; their running backs combined for 34 yards on eight carries. The existential wonderboy, Mike Kafka, had yet another efficient day passing (34/47, 291 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions) and was the LOLcats' leading rusher (42 yards on 18 carries) as well. As for our next opponent... they didn't exactly put on a masterclass in running the ball, either -- Larry Caper went for 63 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries and Edwin Baker carried 12 times for 45 yards. As they have all year, they were carried by the passing game; Kirk Cousins went 21/31 for 281 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The main beneficiary of his aerial profligacy was Blair White (12 catches for 186 yards, two touchdowns); Mr. White, meet Mr. Spievey. I'm sure you'll get along famously.

Only marginally less disturbing than watching the Michigan-Delaware State game. (NSFW - language)

Michigan 63, Delaware State 6
Michigan scored 60+ for the first time in 17 years, racked up a school-record 727 total yards (including 461 rushing yards), had eight different players score touchdowns, and rested Tate Forcier after one series. Oh, and their best two running backs (Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor) didn't even play. Delaware State was such a whore for the $550,000 payday that this game provided that they didn't even care how bad their john beat them up (or even that taking this game would also require them to forfeit a conference game previously scheduled for yesterday), so long as the money was there. No word yet on whether Michigan sent them a check or just left a stack of rumpled cash on the dresser while they took a shower. Let us never speak of this game again.

Hail To The Victors! That's How You're Supposed To Eat a Cupcake

SCM — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:00:22 -0000

Photo by John T Greilick via multimedia.detnews.com

727 yards of total offense. Yes, a Boeing's worth of yards in a single game. 442 of those yards were in the first half, which saw the teams enter the locker-rooms with the score standing at 49-3. What can you say? Delaware State was indeed awful. That said, it was really nice to see us just put the hammer down from the get go and put this one well out of reach. One could also call it refreshing. Obviously a ton of positives to take away from this performance, not the least of which is that it was accomplished without Carlos Brown, Brandon Minor, and short of the opening series, Tate Forcier. That Michigan emerged from this game without an injury to anyone and got as many players much needed experience was about all we could've hoped for. I certainly wasn't a fan of this game even being on the schedule, but since it was, I don't think the team could've handled it any better than they did on the field.

Miscellaneous

- Nicely done Purdue! Congrats to the Boilers and as I imagine many of their fans are saying: about time. I just had to link to the following from The Buckeye Blog:

One of the biggest problems with the current BCS system is that when you play in the toughest conference in the country, it is nearly impossible to make it out of conference play unscathed. First a fifth ranked Penn State drops to Iowa powerhouse. Now the 8th ranked Buckeyes go down to Purdue who were only a play or two from turning a 1-5 record into a 6-0 record.

Unlike the SEC, the Big Ten fronts at least seven teams with the ability to do serious damage year after year. Along with the rivalry games which can go either way, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin provide bruising, physical play that would leave a PAC 10 team wilted.

Wait, what?! Now then, no offense Boilermaker fans, but let's be honest here. This was a Purdue team that was thoroughly outplayed in most phases of the game by Northern Illinois. A team roundly predicted by the vast majority of talking heads to be battling for the 10th place spot in the conference this season. The Buckeyes lost to a 1-5 team, albeit a team that's 1-5 thanks to a few close ones, they were still 1-5 and no combination of "a play or two" gets them remotely close to 6-0. Top 10 football teams probably shouldn't lose to 1-5 teams. Also, he must be excluding USC from that "leaving a PAC 10 team wilted" talk, since, you know, they took care of OSU as well (albeit in less impressive fashion than Purdue). This game was not an example of how huge of a gauntlet the conference is, but rather just how "meh" Ohio State is capable of playing. It will be awfully interesting to see how the rest of that fan-base reacts to this one, and Terrelle Pryor's performance in particular.

- The top 3 teams in the country all looked pedestrian at best Saturday. Florida certainly did not look like the #1 team in the nation against Arkansas... a team that Alabama put a serious whoopin' on not too long ago. Of course, Alabama had trouble putting away South Carolina, who is still South Carolina last I checked.... And Texas went out and outlasted a Sam Bradford-less Oklahoma in a game that saw its share of offensive ineptitude. There's simply not a dominant team out there right now, and that's just fine with me.

- I watched the majority of the second half of the USC/ND game and the thing that really stood out to me was just how terrible Charlie Weis continues to be at managing a football game. He passes up a field goal opportunity to go for it on 4th and short in the second half, at a time when I thought to myself, "kick the FG, there's tons of time". Those three points probably would've been pretty big in that last minute wouldn't they? Then, ND lets 10 seconds run off the clock inside the USC 10 yardline on their final possession when they had a timeout in their pocket... why? That's two plays down there! Yeeeeesh.

- Indiana, who was coming off of a shellacking at the hands of, ahem, Virginia, came out and beat the pants off of Illinois (a late Illini TD made it look closer than it ever was), who now find themselves at 1-5.

- One other note from the ND game... since the refs have suddenly started calling Michigan for this "illegal formation due to a lineman not being within X inches of the guy next to him in relation to the line of scrimmage" garbage I've been paying more attention to how other teams line up. ND's tackles were vast distances off the line of scrimmage at many times throughout the game... stunningly no flags were thrown for it.

more after the jump

Offense

- Ok so 727 total yards and 10.1 yards per play... everyone looked great at times and we didn't show a darn thing to Penn State. There's just not tons to discuss, but let's see what we can scrounge together eh?

- I might be wrong but I think there were FIVE players who scored the first TD of their careers today: Kelvin Grady, Martell Webb, Mike Cox, Vincent Smith, Brandon Graham (yes that counts), and

- Michigan's QBs combined for 15-18, 266 yards and 2 TDs. Forcier looked sharp on his series and thankfully got to rest the rest of the day. My one quibble, and it's really really minor: I would've liked to have gotten Denard Robinson a few more passing attempts, I mean, 3 for 4 with 2 TDs and all, but really would've liked to have seen him get more reps where he got a chance to make a read or two and throw the ball. Again, that's nitpicking of the highest order. How about Nick Sheridan looking downright efficient in there? Nicely done Nick. Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Cone as well!

- 15 passes to 11 different receivers... wow.

- Zero punts. Yay. Sorry Zoltan.

- The offensive line looked like a machine, like they were supposed to against a team like this, simple execution gets a big nod of approval.

- 54 rushes for 461 yards. Every back looked good out there. I really liked what I saw out of Vincent Smith, nice job young man. Shaw got the start but had as "quiet" of a nine carry 73 yard day as one can. Mike Cox has certainly shown flashes of brilliance in limited carries. I'm not going to extrapolate much from this game in and of itself, but I feel entirely comfortable saying we're stacked something fierce at the tailback position.

Defense

- 6 points, no TDs, nothing jumps out at me here, we dominated, we didn't give up anything stupid, tons of people saw the field, what else do you say?

Special Teams

- Hey, a blocked punt! A bit later than I predicted, but a special teams TD is always great to see, especially when it's Brandon Graham rumbling into the endzone with it!

Overall

Photo by John T. Greilick via multimedia.detnews.com

- Yeah, that about says it all... how nice is it to just say, "Well, we completely dominated a team we were supposed to dominate"? I'm still opposed to having a game like this on the schedule, but I can't complain with how we played it. Couldn't have asked for more heading into next Saturday.

GO BLUE!

5th Quarter Consensus: Badgers bounce back with Homecoming win

Jbharris87 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:36:20 -0000

More photos » by Terry Gilliam - AP

2 months ago: Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Ohio State Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

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Iowa at Wisconsin

Kickoff: 11 a.m. CT

Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wis.

Weather Forecast: 43F, Partly cloudy, 10% chance of rain

TV: ESPN

Radio: WIBA-AM 1310, WIBA-FM 101.5 and the Badgers Radio Network

Coverage: A week's worth of coverage on our Iowa Game Page

Opposing Blog: Black Heart Gold Pants

The Consensus

Jake Harris (6-0, +75): Wisconsin 21, Iowa 13

Adam Hoge (6-0, +77): Wisconsin 17, Iowa 13

Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com): Wisconsin 24, Iowa 23

The Reasoning

Iowa has been tough to figure out so far this year. The Hawkeyes went into Happy Valley and beat Penn State and also have impressive wins over Arizona and Michigan. On the other hand, they needed two missed field goals to beat Northern Iowa and only beat Arkansas State by three points. Wisconsin has been impressive in starting the season 5-0 and dominating Ohio State statistically in a losing effort. The Badgers rarely lose at home. The Wisconsin defense has successfully employed a bend-but-don't-break philosophy and has been better against the run than the pass. Iowa's passing game is nothing to fear, with quarterback Ricky Stanzi matching each touchdown pass with an interception thus far. While tight end Tony Moeaki can present matchup problems, he is the only pass catcher on the Hawkeyes that commands more than average attention.

Michigan running back Brandon Minor had a big day at Iowa last week and John Clay will get his yards. Scott Tolzien should bounce back after being harassed by an NFL-caliber defensive line a week ago. Tolzien has played much better at Camp Randall than on the road. The Badgers should win a big Homecoming game and be positioned for quite a run in the second half of the season.

Who has the edge?

Offense: Wisconsin

Defense: Iowa

Special Teams: Iowa

Coaching: Iowa

Intangibles: Wisconsin

-Jake Harris