SB Nation - David Gilreath

Badger Bits: Plowing through awards, rankings and respect

Adam Hoge — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:12:05 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Miami quarterback Jacory Harris (12) has a ton of talent but has been prone to turnovers this season. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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There's been a lot of debate the last couple days about matchup vs. location when it comes to bowl games. Which one is more important?

It's a good question, but I think the answer is obvious: the matchup is more important. Tuesday, December 29 two up-and-coming teams will square off in a bad stadium that is located in a bad city, but the winner will hardly care. It's likely the victor will be ranked in the top 15 next season and either Miami or Wisconsin will be thrilled about getting a win over a good program.

The atmosphere won't exactly be electric and the upper deck might even be closed, but the game should be a good one. Both teams have a ton of young, exciting players that are on the brink of stardom. You want two Heisman candidates for next season? Look no further than Miami's Jacory Harris or Wisconsin's John Clay.

Quite frankly I think bowl games have more of an impact on the following season than the current one and both of these programs could use a win like this to spark an important 2010 campaign.

Looking at the bowl slate, it appears the Champs Sports Bowl is one of the better matchups, but ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach disagrees, ranking the bowl No. 17 out of 34. Confused? I sure am. He's got the Hawaii Bowl ranked No. 16. Do you know who is playing in the Hawaii Bowl? Nevada and Southern Methodist. Ouch.

As we move on to some links, Matt Lepay agrees with me about the matchup and looks back on his first road trip he ever took with the Badgers -- to Miami to face the Hurricanes.

Last week was certainly an exciting week to be a Badger fan and I don't think my inbox has ever been more flooded with news releases about Badger players winning awards. Yesterday I was getting a tweet or an e-mal every five minutes about awards that had been won. Trevon Hughes won Big Ten Player of the Week, while John Clay, J.J. Watt and David Gilreath were also awarded weekly honors by the conference. Meanwhile, Barry Alvarez will be inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.

Finally, the UW men's basketball team is headed up to Green Bay today around 2:30 p.m. to get ready for the Phoenix. Snow is a big issue, but according to SID Patrick Herb's tweet today, I don't think Bo Ryan cares much about the weather:

BadgerMBBall: Bball team will snowplow its way to Green Bay around 2:30 p.m. today. Snow or no snow... we've got practice tonight at the Resch Center.

And in case you didn't realize it, this rare trip to Green Bay is Wisconsin's only true non-conference road game this season. The team will play five straight home games after Wednesday's contest and won't return to the road until Jan. 3 when the Badgers play at Penn State.

They are who we thought they were

Adam Hoge — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:17:28 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Bret Bielema has seen his team commit the same silly mistakes on the road that plagued the Badgers last season. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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We saw this coming. It was really no surprise.

Dropped passes, muffed kick returns, lapses in coverage, a late-game fumble. For whatever reason, the Wisconsin Badgers -- who have looked so dominating at home for most of the season -- can't put it all together on the road. That was fine against Minnesota and Indiana, but not so much against better teams like Ohio State and Northwestern.

As a result, a close game that was there for the taking fell to the wayside and the Wildcats won 33-31 Saturday at Ryan Field in Evanston, a place UW hasn't won at in over a decade.

The signs were there. Even in some of UW's most impressive wins, there have been issues that continually rear their ugly head. Go back to the Michigan State win when a blowout turned into a 38-30 win when the secondary gave up two long touchdown passes in the final minutes. Go back to the Indiana win when a dominating performance by the rush defense was spoiled by a poor performance by the cornerbacks and the Badgers ended up with a nail-biting 31-28 victory.

There's a lot we knew coming into the game, but there were a few things we didn't know (good and bad):

What we knew

We knew the secondary was bad. Bielema's propaganda has attempted to tell us all season that Wisconsin has depth at cornerback, but the reality is that if you have four "able" cornerbacks you don't have two. Mike Kafka's big game was really no surprise.
We knew the special teams would make a few mistakes. Wisconsin has improved in almost every area this season, but you can easily argue that Bielema's special teams group has regressed. No one was shocked when the coverage units continually gave up big returns to Northwestern. The Wildcats averaged 33.4 yards per return. Issac Anderson's bobbled kick return that he took out of the endzone also hurt. He was tackled at the five yard line and UW ended up punting.
We knew Wisconsin would get its points. The Badgers' offense is for real and despite NU boasting a decent defense, the Badgers found the end zone and put up 31 points.
We knew the Badgers would commit silly penalties. It's become a staple of Bielema's tenure at Wisconsin. While UW has improved in this area at home, Bielema's players still struggle mentally on the road. Issac Anderson committed two penalties in five plays, the second of which wiped out his 11-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter when he was called for an illegal shift. Wisconsin ended up settling for a field goal.

What we didn't know

David Gilreath would find the endzone. It has been an awful year for punt returner David Gilreath and he probably should have lost his job weeks ago, but Bielema's stubbornness paid off Saturday when his guy broke a 68-yard return for a touchdown that cut NU's lead to 27-24
John Clay would get shutdown. Clay still managed 100 yards on 23 carries and scored a touchdown, but Northwestern did a great job of limiting UW's potent rushing attack and forced Wisconsin to throw the football. While Scott Tolzien had success in the air, it appeared the offense was a little out of sync all day and that contributed to UW failing to score on its final three possessions.
Wisconsin would lose when scoring 30 or more points. The Badgers entered Saturday's game with a 30-game win streak when scoring 30 or more points. Of course when was the last time Wisconsin failed to win when scoring 30 or more points? Well, that was the last time the Badgers played at Ryan Field when they lost 51-48 to the Wildcats Oct. 8, 2005.

So what's the problem? I've been saying this for weeks: The Badgers are still a year away. They're young and they are going to make mistakes on the road. Are these mistakes becoming a chronic problem under Bret Bielema? Maybe. But this is a different group of players than the veteran group that never put it together last season.

If this team can make strides in what should be a sure-win in Hawaii and carry it over to the bowl game, then I'm confident the mistakes will be limited next year. And if they aren't? Well, then it will be a coaching issue.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Northwestern Ends on a High Note Over Wisconsin, 33-31

hmlee — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:05:41 -0000

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Well, that turned out to be quite the exciting game. I was rather shocked by the final score, though not by who won. Those of you who've been around since the beginning of the season know that this was a tough one for me, as I write about both Wisconsin and Northwestern for The Rivalry, Esq. I grew up a Badger fan and as a current Northwestern Law student also cheer quite hard for the Wildcats. While the Northwestern-Wisconsin rivalry isn't a blood feud like some others in this conference, it was still a difficult game for me. Every play was essentially both good and bad. I cheered and then felt despondent for the entirety of this game. That's not really a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

I had hoped earlier this season that things would shake out in such a way that this game would only be important to one team and thus I would be able to pick a side for the game and stick with it. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) this game held implications for both teams. Both teams gained bowl eligibility weeks ago, but the the narrative of their seasons was on the line. While the cheesehead in me is sad that the Badgers lost, I think, in the end I am happy that the game turned out the way it did. Frankly, Northwestern needed this game more.

That might seem to be an odd statement, but, looking at the reality of this conference it makes sense from both a bowl perspective and a recruiting perspective. The current Big 10 standings have three teams at 10-2 on the season, with Ohio State taking the championship based on their better in conference record. OSU will thus claim the Big 10's automatic BCS berth and head to Pasadena to take on the Pac-10 champ. As far as at large berths go, Iowa will probably claim another for the Big 10, and Penn State has an outside chance of grabbing one also. If they didn't get an at large, PSU would be slotted into the Capital One bowl vs. a SEC team.

Wisconsin, then, was priced out of the BCS a long time ago. Even at 10-2, it would have been unlikely for them to move from their slot in the Outback bowl, and at 9-3 (assuming a win in two weeks over Hawaii) they won't drop from that perch either. Further, Wisconsin's team is a young one. They have performed remarkably well for such a freshman-sophomore loaded squad, and I see only bright things ahead of them.

Northwestern was in a similar bowl game spot. With the upset of Iowa and the expected victory over Illinois, Northwestern had vaulted themselves to 7 wins and past the rest of the mushy middle of the Big 10 to claim a ticket to the Champs Sports bowl. The victory today gives them eight wins, but they still sit behind Wisconsin and unless the Badgers falter in Hawaii they will still have a worse record by a game. Because Michigan State lost to Penn State today, there is no team capable of leapfrogging the 'Cats. Northwestern is as stuck as Wisconsin.

So, then, we must look at this game from a recruiting perspective. Wisconsin will always do well in recruiting among Big 10 teams. They are a flagship state school known both for academics as well as athletics. They have the loyalty of an entire state, as well as a history of a great football team and will always be competitive with the upper tier Big 10 teams for recruits. A victory tonight wouldn't have altered that in any meaningful way.

Northwestern, by contrast, could gain a significant boost from this victory. With today's win they have sealed an eight win season after coming from virtually nowhere to reach nine wins last year. They will not only be going to a bowl two years in a row, but a warm weather bowl at that (no Pizza! Pizza! here). Despite the dismal beginning to this season, they defeated two of the three ranked teams they played against, and came one quarter away from upsetting the third when Penn State came to town. These upsets, if they can be combined with the 'Cats first bowl victory in 60 years, would seal the impression in recruits minds that Fitz is determined to build a consistently winning program in Evanston that will compete with the conference's upper tier.

Thus, the team that needed the victory most managed to pull it out, and I am at least moderately happy for that.

After the jump, I do a multiple personality recap of the action on the field...

Bama Hawkeye takes a look at the sweet goods on the line this weekend in the Big 10...

Graham and Law Buck engage in dueling coverage of the OSU and Michigan rivalry game...

The only way to really address the in game action today is for me to look at it both as a Northwestern fan and a Wisconsin fan. Because Northwestern comes first alphabetically, I'll start with them.

Northwestern:

It was good to see the 'Cats start this game off on all cylinders. I like this style of play much better than their "wait until we're down by an absurd margin and then mount a nail-biting comeback" gameplan.

Kafka lead the 'Cats on their opening drive from the Northwestern 25 yard line for a score. The defense then answered that by coming out of the gate and largely containing the John Clay led Badger offense and forcing them to punt away their first possession. Both teams then three and outed before Northwestern managed to end the quarter with a field goal to take a 10 point lead on Wisconsin.

Offense:

I was heartened by the fact that all of Northwestern's running backs - Scott Concannon, Stephen Simmons, and Arby Fields - managed to make contributions to Northwestern's game today. At least Concannon and Fields will be back next year, and I am unsure if Simmons, a senior with another year of eligibility, will stay as well. Even if Simmons is gone, the competition between Concannon and Fields during camp next year will only be a positive for Northwestern. It is true that Northwestern runs a spread offense from the shotgun, but having versatile running backs to compliment the mobile QBs will always make the receivers more dangerous.

The second quarter was not quite as kind to the 'Cats. Wisconsin carried over their drive from the 1st and converted it into a John Clay touchdown. Northwestern managed to get the ball back for all of one play before it was fumbled away by Scott Concannon and recovered by Wisconsin. While I never like to see turnovers, I can't put too much heat on Concannon as he has been quite sure handed for most of the games this year. Wisconsin went to their tight end for a TD to give Bucky a four point lead.

Stephen Simmons then broke off a great 64 yard kick return to put the 'Cats within smelling distance of the Badger redzone. Mike Kafka rattled off several passes to Drake Dunsmore, Zeke Markshausen, Arby Fields, and Andrew Brewer to once again take the lead at 17-14. I was happy to see Kafka playing in a much more mobile and healthy way than in the last few games, and it was great for him to end his last regular season on a winning note. Hopefully he can cap off his time at Northwestern with a bowl victory in a few weeks.

Northwestern's defense three and outed the Badgers and then on their next drive Kafka executed a great end-around pass to Markshausen who pitched it downfield to a wiiide open Sidney Stewart. The ball was perfectly thrown and took advantage of the Wisconsin secondary, which isn't exactly the most dominant in the Big 10.

Northwestern regained their 10 point lead 24-14 and never really looked back. Stefan Demos once again looked his automatic self and tacked on three more field goals for the remainder of the 'Cats 33 points.

Defense:

The final score of today's game really doesn't do the defense justice. Yes, the 'Cats let Bucky come unacceptably close to a comeback win, but the defense played a good game for all 60 minutes. Three different Wildcats had sacks - Brad Phillips, Corey Wootton, and Vince Browne. The 'Cats managed to hold John Clay to only 102 yards rushing and 1 TD, which is pretty good considering he's the best RB in the conference. They also managed to step up in the crucial moments, forcing two turnovers during the forth quarter. Brian Peters recovered a clay fumble, and Jordan Mabin ended the late Badger threat with a great interception of Tolzien in the final seconds.

All in all, a good way to end the season. I think with a healthy Kafka the Wildcats will be very competitive come bowl time, and I'm looking forward to a great Champs Sports Bowl match up.

Go U! NU!

Wisconsin:

Now, I'll let my slightly more depressed dairy state side take over. This really was a trap game for my Badgers. While they were coming off three wins, Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan aren't exactly formidable competition this year. Northwestern is a deceptive team who had only been getting better as the season has gone on. It seemed that the Badgers were in danger of looking past both Northwestern and Hawaii towards the bowl season, and I think that's just what they did.

The Badgers simply played sloppy football, and it cost them the game.

Offense:

The one bright spot on the white and red side of the ball was the offense. The Badgers executed a balanced gameplan that got more dangerous as the game went on. Yes, they started off slowly, but Clay managed another triple digit ground game with a score, and Scott Tolzien threw for 235 yards and 2 TDs - both to the newly full strength Garrett Graham. Nick Toon also showed why he's going to be a big threat for years to come, as he had 7 catches for 70 yards, a nice follow up to his 98 yard game at Michigan. I don't know that he will ever live up to his father's stats, but he is definitely a solid part of the Badger offense and has a good chance to be their top receiver for the next year or two.

For all his inconsistency this year, Tolzien had a solid game, throwing only one interception in the closing seconds on a last ditch effort to move the Badgers downfield. For someone who was presumed to be a career backup at best, this season has been a good one and I'm looking forward to next year. Wisconsin finally has a quarterback who can make both the short quick throws and the deep passes. I'd like to see a win against Hawaii and a bowl victory to cap off his first starting season... regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, the competition between him and Curt Phillips will make for an interesting camp next year.

Defense:

Unfortunately, this was not one of the defense's better efforts. They allowed the most points they have all season, even more than they did to Ohio State, and even my other half would agree that the 'Cats are most certainly not the Buckeyes. Frankly, the Wisconsin defense was just not equipped to handle the Northwestern spread. The secondary is the weakest part of the defense and it showed. Kafka burned the Wisconsin defense for 326 yards passing and 2 TDs. The defense also looked completely fooled by the end around to Zeke Markshausen... he's a receiver for goodness sakes! He shouldn't be able to throw a TD! Gah.

This was also only the third game of the entire season in which the Badgers had no interceptions (the other two were against Northern Illinois and Iowa). They did have one fumble recovery, but lost the turnover battle overall. Still.... this is a young unit and can only really get better next year. I just hope we don't draw a spread based team in a bowl game, or it could get ugly.

Special Teams:

Once again, the special teams was a Jekyll and Hyde unit. Two separate returns best show this.

In the second quarter, Isaac Anderson inexplicably picked up a kickoff in the end zone and ran the ball out... to the 5. Ugh. Wisconsin managed to get the ball out to their 18, but the resulting punt gave Northwestern great field position near midfield, and the Wildcats would convert that into a field goal. Sigh.

In the third quarter, though, the special teams partially managed to redeem themselves when David Gilreath returned a a punt 68 yards for a TD which pulled Wisconsin within 3 of Northwestern.

The kick coverage today was similarly mediocre. Northwestern managed one 60+ yard return and several 30 yard returns. Their shortest return was for 12 yards after a Welch field goal. That's not really a dominating performance.

The interesting thing about this game is that both Northwestern and Wisconsin have ST units coached by the head coaches. Northwestern, for the most part, manages to do it right. They constantly execute good returns and usually do not make stupid mistakes. Wisconsin, by contrast, is prone to such mistakes and to sloppily executed tackling on their return coverage. Simply put, as long as Bielema is still coaching that unit, you never know what you're going to get. Until he finally gets a full time coach, it will always be the Achilles heel of this squad. It is long past time for that change to happen.

Disappointing as all that was, I must give credit to the Badgers for not giving up. They fought hard and pulled within two points, taking the game down to the final seconds. They can still end the season strong in Hawaii, and a bowl victory would prove that an excess of youth does not necessarily spell doom in the NCAA. In truth, they can only get better from here.

So...

On to Hawaii, On to the regular season finale, and ON WISCONSIN!!!!

Replay and React: The good and bad from Saturday's win

Jbharris87 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:57:55 -0000

by Tom Strattman - AP

about 1 month ago: Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland (44) celebrates with teammates Culmer St. Jean (15), Devin Smith (10) and Dan Moore (45) after intercepting a pass during the second half of a college football game against Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. Wisconsin won 31-28. (AP Photo/Tom Strattman)

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Underwhelming would be one way to describe Wisconsin's 31-28 victory over Indiana Saturday. Yet, despite the small margin of victory, the Badgers were in control throughout virtually the entire game. Wisconsin built a ten-point halftime lead and withstood a late Hoosier rally for its second straight win. Head coach Bret Bielema admitted this was far from a perfect performance.

"I think our guys knew on Sunday that they had to watch a game that they weren’t real clean at," Bielema said. "[We] didn’t do all the things that we had been doing during the course of the season to have success."

Still, it is tough to complain when three Badgers had 100-yard days offensively and the Wisconsin defense held the Hoosiers to 63 rushing yards. While Indiana shares the cellar of the Big Ten with Michigan at 1-5, Wisconsin is not the only team that has had to work to defeat them. The Hoosiers held fourth-quarter leads on the road three different times this season, only to watch each of them evaporate.

Give the Badgers credit for taking care of business on the road and keeping their hopes of a 10-2 season alive.

Let's get to the highlights:

The Good

Running Game - It is becoming a theme when Wisconsin plays Indiana, but Bielema and offensive coordinator Paul Chryst were determined to dominate on the ground against the Big Ten's eighth-ranked rushing defense. John Clay wore down the Hoosiers in the first half, carrying 15 times for 134 yards and a touchdown. When he was unable to return in the second period because of stomach pains and a possible concussion, true freshman Montee Ball carried the load. Ball's number was called 27 times and he piled up 115 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, the Badgers ran for 294 yards, three touchdowns and a 5.4-yard average per carry. The coaches' faith in Ball was tested when Clay went down, and they could not have given him a stronger vote of confidence, essentially assigning him the task of protecting the Badgers' lead.

Nick Toon - The redshirt sophomore wide receiver had what Bielema called his most complete game as a Badger. Toon caught five passes for 123 yards, none of which were more important than his 17-yard reception on 3rd-and-8 with Wisconsin clinging to a three-point lead in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. He continues to demonstrate big-play potential, hauling in a 44-yard pass Saturday. Toon's development is an encouraging sign for a relatively young offense, and his presence as a legitimate threat in the passing game opens up holes in opposing defenses for the Badger running backs.

Front Seven - Wisconsin continues to play the run very well defensively, holding Indiana to 63 yards rushing and maintaining its status as the league leader in conference play against the run. The Hoosiers only gained 2.4 yards per carry against the Badger defense Saturday. Chris Borland continued his phenomenal freshman season, recording another tackle-for-loss and a nice interception. He has been filling in admirably for the injured Mike Taylor at linebacker. The defensive ends led the way for the line, with O'Brien Schofield and J.J. Watt combining for three tackles-for-loss and Schofield adding a sack.

The Bad

Tight Ends - Lost in the Badgers' two-game winning streak has been the regression of star tight end Garrett Graham. He was held without a catch against the Hoosiers and dropped a throw from quarterback Scott Tolzien that was right on the money and could have led to a score. As Graham's receptions have decreased over the last few games, he has been whistled for more and more head-scratching penalties. Lance Kendricks, who found success with the end-around play against Purdue, was also quiet in this one, catching only one ball.

Secondary - The defensive backs allowed Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell to complete 25 of his 35 pass attempts for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Even when considering the Hoosiers had to throw often to come from behind, that is not good defense. Give Chris Maragos credit for his interception, but Niles Brinkley, Antonio Fenelus and Devin Smith had no answer for the Indiana wide receivers. Big pass plays by the Hoosiers were what stood between Wisconsin and a more convincing victory.

Return Game - David Gilreath's first two returns of this game should be his last of the season. He lost the opening kickoff in the sun and was unable to field it, letting it bounce through the end zone for a touchback. Then, after the Badger defense forced an Indiana punt, Gilreath could not catch the ball cleanly. The Hoosiers recovered the fumble, took over with good field position and scored their first points of the game. From there, Maurice Moore took over on punt returns and Isaac Anderson on kickoff returns. Moore is now suspended indefinitely after being charged with OWI early Sunday morning. Wisconsin ranks 101st in the country in punt returns and 112th in kickoff returns on the season. This unit has to improve, or the calls for Bielema to hire a full-time special teams coach will only grow louder.

-Jake Harris

Monday Film Session: The wide receiver "pick" play

Adam Hoge — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:21:38 -0000

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Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland (44) graded out well after UW's 31-28 win over Indiana. How did the rest of his team do? (AP Photo/Tom Strattman)

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Don't look now, but after the UW offense failed to score a touchdown in two straight losses against Ohio State and Iowa, the Badgers have responded well with a total of 68 points in two straight wins over Purdue and Indiana.

Still, while the points and yards continue to pile up on that side of the ball, there have been a few red flags. For instance, Saturday against Indiana, the only ones who could stop the UW offense was the UW offense itself.

After going back and reviewing the film from Saturday, two sequences of events in the first half stood out as Wisconsin left at least 7 points on the board in the first 30 minutes of play.

The first came when Wisconsin had a 10-7 lead at the start of the second quarter and a first and 10 at the IU 1-yard line. Like we have oddly seen before this season, Paul Chryst called a passing play on first down and the intended pass for Garrett Graham fell incomplete after being tipped at the line of scrimmage. On second down, Scott Tolzien fell down after his feet got tangled with center Peter Konz and on third down Issac Anderson was flagged for offensive pass interference (more on this in a minute), which wiped out a touchdown pass to Lance Kendricks. Wisconsin settled for a field goal, leaving four points off the scoreboard.

On UW's last drive of the half, Tolzien rolled out to his right and hit a wide open Garrett Graham down the field at the 25 yard line. The only problem? Graham started running before he secured the football and he dropped it for an incomplete pass. The completion would have at least put UW in field goal range, but it's very possible Graham could have scored on the play. He was that open.

All in all, UW left at least 7 points (maybe 10) off the scoreboard in the first half. To make matters worse, after Graham's drop, Anderson dropped one on third down that would have kept the drive going. Instead, IU went 80 yards and scored a touchdown. Now, to their credit, the Badgers managed to come back with a touchdown of their own before the half was over, but they could have been up as much as 34-14 at the half, instead of only 24-14.

Now, let's go back to the questionable pass interference call on Anderson on the first missed opportunity. This was very simply just a bad call. And I'll show you why.

If you look at the tape, Issac Anderson picks his own guy. The whole definition of the illegal "pick" play, is that while running a crossing route, you make contact with the defender covering your teammate, creating space for your teammate to catch the pass. Let's take a look at the tape:

Anderson is lined up at the top of your screen and is covered by cornerback Adrian Burks. Strong safety Austin Thomas is covering Kendricks.

Here's how the play unfolds:

Anderson simply runs forward and jams with the corner covering him. In no way is he "picking" the guy who is covering Kendricks. Now you can argue that IU was in a zone and Burks was going to go out to cover Kendricks, but at this point he has made no attempt to move towards the sideline and Thomas appears to be trying to go behind Burks the entire play. This is a mix up in coverage, not offensive pass interference.

Understandably, Anderson and Bielema weren't too happy about the call. After looking at the rest of the game film, they probably weren't too happy that Indiana got away with an actual pick play later in the game on their first touchdown of the second half.

Here's how the illegal pick play is actually run (and when offensive pass interference should be called):

Belcher is the wide receiver lined up to the outside, while Terrance Turner is in the slot. Belcher is going to run inside and pick free safety Chris Maragos who is covering Turner. Turner then runs an out-route underneath. Here's how the play unfolds:

As you can see, Belcher clearly runs into Maragos as Turner begins his cut to the sideline where he is wide open for the touchdown.

If the officials are going to be "picky" and call the pass inteference on UW when they shouldn't have, then they could at least be consistent with the call. Of course, it wasn't same official on that side of the field.

After watching the rest of the film, here's how I grade out the Badgers after their 31-28 win over Indiana:

Quarterback: B+
Scott Tolzien's numbers weren't fantastic (11-of-20 for 194 yards and one touchdown), but Graham and Anderson each dropped wide open passes and I thought he did a great job of managing the game. He didn't turn the ball over and he made great decisions all day long, specifically on his touchdown pass when he passed on a wide open Garrett Graham who was open right in front of him and went to Anderson instead, who was open in the end zone for the score.

Running backs: A+
267 yards, three touchdowns and no fumbles. It can't get much better than that. John Clay continued to dominate the Big Ten with 134 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries before a head injury put Montee Ball in the rest of the way. All Ball did was pick up 115 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries and take over the final drive of the game to run out the clock and secure the win.

Wide receivers: B
Nick Toon was outstanding with five catches for 123 yards. Four of those catches came on crucial third downs, including a 17-yard gain on 3rd and 8 with 2:28 remaining in the game. Anderson had a good game with three catches for 43 yards and a touchdown, but his drop on third down late in the second quarter killed UW's momentum and put the ball in the hands of Ben Chappell who marched down the field in only three plays to keep IU in the game before halftime.

Tight ends: D
The blocking was fine, but Graham was virtually invisible in the passing game and dropped a pass on what could have been a 50-yard touchdown play in the second quarter. Kendricks caught one pass for seven yards and had a touchdown wiped out on the "pick play".

Offensive line: A
The run blocking was beautiful all day long, exemplified on John Moffitt's key block in the first quarter that sprung John Clay on a 47-yard run into IU territory. The line didn't allow a sack and Jake Bscherer actually made the line better when he came in for Josh Oglesby after the right tackle went down with an apparent left knee injury with 8:18 left in the second quarter. You have to feel for Oglesby because you could hear him scream on television when the injury happened, but he was struggling against Jamie Kirlew and Bscherer shut the talented defensive end down the rest of the game.

Defensive line: C
The run defense was stout, only allowing 2.4 yards per carry, but the line didn't put much pressure on Chappell who was able to pick apart the secondary for 323 yards and three touchdowns while completing 25-of-35 passes. O'Brien Schofield still managed two TFLs and he forced an interception when he hit Chappell on a throw in the third quarter. He didn't get much help from his fellow linemates, however.

Linebackers: B+
Chris Borland gets an A as the true freshman continues to play like a veteran out there. He led the team with nine tackles, added an interception and a TFL, while his blitzes wreaked havoc all day. Blake Sorensen got a good amount of reps at middle linebacker and he played well with five tackles, although he gave up a big pass play in the second half when he went for the ball instead of playing the man.

Cornerbacks: C-
Niles Brinkley continued to struggle, most notably on Indiana's touchdown late in the second quarter when he gave up a 33-yard pass to Terrance Turner and then two plays later gave up a 46-yard touchdown to Tandon Doss. Devin Smith played very well although he gave up a few tough plays on IU's final scoring drive. Antonio Fenelus was the nickel corner and looked average at best. Aaron Henry was nowhere to be seen and practiced at free safety during the week.

Safeties: C
Chris Maragos made a nice interception on underneath coverage, but both he and Valai looked confused at times in zone coverage. Both of them were having communication problems with the cornerbacks, specifically Valai and Brinkley who were caught covering the same guy a few times while the other receiver was busy catching the pass.

Special teams: D
Bret Bielema's unit continues to underachieve. The head coach's stubborness with David Gilreath cost the Badgers a touchdown in the first quarter when No. 85 muffed the punt at the 12 yard line. Gilreath should have lost his return job weeks ago, but Bielema still had him in there later in the game. Ironically, Borland had the best return of the day, a 32-yarder late in the second quarter that set Wisconsin up for a touchdown before halftime.

Replay and React: The good and bad from Saturday's win

Jbharris87 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:41:24 -0000

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about 1 month ago: Wisconsin running back John Clay runs past Purdue linebacker Chris Carlino during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Madison, Wis. Clay had 123-yards in Wisconsin's 37-0 win. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

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Talk about making a statement. Wisconsin rebounded from two tough losses against elite Big Ten teams by posting its first shutout in three years. The Badgers' 37-0 victory over Purdue Saturday was nothing short of dominant. Give Bret Bielema and his coaching staff credit for pushing the right buttons. The team looked hungry from kickoff onward, setting the tone early with an 80-yard touchdown drive and preserving the shutout late by refusing to surrender a point. This was the kind of game the Badgers of last year may have dropped or struggled to win. The inspired play Saturday, particularly from the underclassmen, reinforced the belief that there is still a lot at stake this season, and generated justifiable excitement about the future of the program.

Purdue, like many teams in the Big Ten this season, has been tough to figure. Still, it is safe to say the Boilermakers are good enough that beating them 37-0 is impressive. They are the only team in the conference that has defeated Ohio State. And they only lost by two points to an Oregon team that is perfect in Pac-10 play because of a missed extra point. Purdue had scored at least 20 points in each of its first eight games before playing the Badgers. Most importantly, this was a hot team, one that came into Madison fresh off of two Big Ten victories.

Many of us had been waiting for a Bielema-coached team to put together a truly complete game. The Badgers' first five victories of the season all ended up closer than they needed to be. Throughout Bielema's tenure at Wisconsin, the team has gotten off to its share of slow starts in games and has put its fans through plenty of well-documented collapses. On display Saturday were 60 quality minutes of football. It is an encouraging sign for a young team that has every reason to believe it can win its remaining four games, finish 10-2 and play in a very respectable bowl game.

Let's take a look at Saturday's highlights:

The Good

Running game - The Badgers piled up yardage on the ground. John Clay ran for 123 yards and three touchdowns and, once again, the team took full advantage of the end-around. Tight end Lance Kendricks accumulated 91 yards on the ground on such plays, including a 54-yard scamper down the sideline. Overall, the Badgers ran for 266 yards on an impressive 53 carries. It was nice to see Wisconsin set the tone for the game by committing to the ground attack early. The team's opening drive covered 80 yards, none of which came through the air, and resulted in a touchdown.

Freshmen - Wisconsin's freshmen continue to have a remarkably positive impact on this season. Erik Smith and Montee Ball received a combined 14 carries out of the backfield. Curt Phillips got into the game at quarterback, running four times and attempting six passes. Kraig Appleton recorded his first receptions of the season and looked good. David Gilbert blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown. Chris Borland forced and recovered yet another fumble. Gilbert and Borland, in particular, have been big-play guys on defense and on special teams throughout the year.

Secondary - We've been on their case all year, so we better give them the props they earned Saturday. The defensive backs played great football, holding Purdue quarterback Joey Elliott to 5-of-23 passing for 59 yards. Cornerback Devin Smith, who has been up and down this year, recorded a spectacular interception and got a foot down in bounds. He and Chris Maragos both broke up passes. The coverage was simply outstanding all day. Purdue's receivers had an extremely difficult time getting open.

The Bad

Quarterbacks - Scott Tolzien was not asked to do much in this game, putting the ball up only 13 times. Still, he completed just six passes for 87 yards and did not throw a touchdown pass for the third consecutive game. Tolzien did not look nearly as sharp on his passes as he did during the early part of the season, and it's becoming a concern. Curt Phillips did not look much better in garbage time, throwing an interception and only rushing for three yards. While letting Clay and the run game dominate was clearly the right strategy against the second-worst rushing defense in the Big Ten, it does suggest a lack of confidence in the quarterbacks not to ask them to throw more, especially once the game was out of reach. Interestingly enough, one of last year's starters, Dustin Sherer, was a topic of conversation at Bielema's press conference Monday. Sherer is an Indiana native and the Badgers play in Bloomington this week. Bielema reiterated that he thought Sherer would have an opportunity to help Wisconsin win a game at some point this year. With Tolzien's stock plummeting recently and Phillips probably not quite ready, it wouldn't be a shock if Sherer saw action before the season ends.

David Gilreath - Gilreath simply needs to be replaced, or at least complemented, as the main return man. Simply put, he looks lost on the football field this year. He runs laterally way too often, and seems to have no idea whether to call for a fair catch on punts. Bielema said he would use Isaac Anderson at times, but we didn't see him in either role against Purdue. It is tough to single out one guy when the special teams unit has been poor all year, but Philip Welch, Brad Nortman and the coverage team all played adequately Saturday, and Gilreath still struggled.

No Sellout - It is tough to find three negatives after shutting out a Big Ten opponent, but it has to be considered a disappointment that Camp Randall was not sold out Saturday. Even after two losses, the Badgers came into this game 5-2 and Purdue was considered a decent team. Late-October Big Ten games in Madison should always sell out. Period. There are, of course, circumstances to consider, chiefly that many people want nothing to do with the chaos of Madison over Halloween weekend. And, of course, it is nice to know that Camp Randall will be packed to the brim for the Badgers' last home game of the season against Michigan, no matter how far the Wolverines continue to fall.

-Jake Harris

A Little Rest Does a Badger Good: Wisconsin Shuts-out Purdue, 37-0

hmlee — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:08:42 -0000

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Well now that's more like it. I do enjoy starting my Saturday off with a completely dominating victory by the Wisconsin Badgers. Granted, it was against the Purdue Boilermakers - not exactly the class of the Big 10 this season - but after the way the Badgers have been playing the last few weeks, it was quite satisfying.

It seems as though Wisconsin's bye week came at exactly the right time this year. Like my Badgers, I also took some rest and relaxation time, returning to the dairy state to visit family and escape the grind of the midpoint of the law school semester. It seems as though this time in the college football season has much in common with my 1L year. The Badgers and I both came out of the gate strong - staying on top of non-con foes and contracts readings. But both of us stumbled a bit through the meat of the conference schedule and midterms, staggering into this past week just hoping for a break and a time to catch our breaths. While Bucky rested up from concussions and contusions I too had an injury break - seriously, that carpal tunnel is a bitch.

Of course, it did help the newly rejuvenated Badgers that the Purdue team that showed up at Camp Randall looked more like the Boilermakers of the beginning of the season than the team that stunned Ohio State and rolled over Illinois. Purdue's offense once again lost the turnover battle, losing two fumbles and tossing one INT to Wisconsin's single garbage time interception. This alone would seem to be a significant hurdle for Purdue to climb, but unfortunately for them, it was also accompanied by a rash of drops among their receiving core. I don't have a total of the number of balls that bounced off their buttery fingers, but it seemed that any time Purdue got a bit offensive momentum, they were undone by a receiver forced incompletion. This had the effect of killing most of their drives before they even got started. Some of these incompletes were due to the aggressive and solid play of the Wisconsin D, who showed great coverage, especially in the secondary. The efforts of the secondary kept Purdue from making big plays - their longest pass play went for only 16 yards, and the linebacker Culmer St. Jean seemed to be tackling guys all over the field.

In fact, with one notable exception, almost everything about this game was positive, and I can't recall a recent conference game that has been quite as fun to watch as this one.

More about that exception as well as my takes on the great, the good, and the mediocre after the jump...

Graham takes a look at the defenses in the Big 10...

My week 7 recap of the Iowa travesty...

My Bucky the Badger pumpkin wishes you a happy Halloween!

As I said above, there really was not much, if anything, bad about the play of Wisconsin this game. So, instead of going with the tried and true (and some might say cliche) break down of the good, the bad, and the ugly, I'll be bringing you an edition of the great, the good, and the medicore.

The Great:

John Clay: Big, bad John Clay is baaack, and I am quite happy to see him return from the bye in apparently good health. Clay took a huge hit in the Iowa game two weeks ago and completely lost effectiveness during that game's second half. He suffered some sort of leg injury and I feared that he might have been out for a few games or done for the season. Instead, Clay rolled over Purdue's run defense for a total of 123 yards and 3 TDs. He, along with Philip Welch, was the entirety of the Badger offense today. If Clay keeps this rate of production up against Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern, and Hawaii he should easily surpass 1,000 yards and may make it into the upper teens in TDs. Those would be very nice stats from a guy who wasn't even the sole running back going into the season.

The defense: The young Badger defense, which had been plagued by inconsistency of late, giving up twice as many second half points as first half points during their last two games, stepped up today and showed why they should be feared in the conference for the next several years. I touched on the play of the secondary above, but really, the entirety of the defense played well. They had a consistent pass rush on Joey Elliot, and managed to contain Ralph Bolden to only 37 yards on 10 carries. And what's more, they managed to not fold in the second half as they have done several times before this season, preserving the shutout. They started strong and finished strong, which is what I want to see out of them on a weekly basis.

The Good:

Philip Welch: Welch has been struggling lately so it was good to see him post another perfect game. Welch made three field goals, for 22, 32, and 42 yards as well as four extra points. Welch was sporting spiffy new black socks today and I say, if a wardrobe change is what it takes for our kicker to be consistent, then lets just have him wear whatever color socks he wants. Red socks? Black socks? Those rainbow socks with the cute little toe thingies? Fine by me! Wisconsin is a very good team when it comes to scoring in the red zone, but for the times when the offense fails to punch it in, we need our kicker to be able to make the chip shots and ensure points on the board. Hopefully Welch will continue playing like he did today for the rest of the season.

Lance Kendricks: Kendricks had a solid game at tight end today, even despite the lack of a Badgers passing game. Kendricks was brought into the run game and managed 91 yards on 4 carries, with his longest being a brusing 51 yarder. Wisconsin has always had a great tight end team between Garrett Graham and Kendricks, but it was heartening to see him make an impact even when Tolzien was pretty much a non-entity.

Special teams: I have a bone to pick with part of the special teams below, but I would like to mention the blocked punt by David Gilbert which was returned into the end zone for a touch down by Aaron Henry. This turned a 17-0 advantage into a 24-0 pounding going into the half. It's good to see all units of the team keep up the pressure and grind their opponents down instead of letting them make adjustments and get back into the game.

The Mediocre:

Scott Tolzien: I have been one of the bigger Scott Tolzien bosoters in the blog world, but his play the last few weeks has been on the bad side of medicore. Coming into this game he had five interceptions and no TD passes in the last two weeks, an alarming change from his 9-3 TD-INT ratio through the first five games of the season. Well, he didn't throw any interceptions today... but that was largely because the coaching staff decided to take the ball out of his hands. He threw only 13 times with six completions for 87 yards, no TDs, and no INTs. On the one hand, I feel a bit bad about quibbling with this decision when it seems to have led to the shutout win. On the other hand, I wonder if Tolzien's confidence hadn't taken a hit in the last two games, and it might have been nice for him to throw a TD or at least triple digit yardage coming off the bye. Hopefully Tolzien can regain his confidence and performance levels from the start of the season and help carry the Badgers to a bowl victory this year.

Special teams punt returning: David Gilreath, I'm looking at you. Gilreath had one or two good punt returns when the Badgers were already up by 24, but he made a completely inexcusable decision on the first punt return of the day, when Wisconsin was only up by 7. Gilreath caught the ball at the 5 and then somehow managed to run sideways and backwards for a loss of 2 to pin Wisconsin on the 3 yard line. This has been going on all season and it has got to stop. I don't know whether we need a different return man or an actual special teams coach, but something needs to change. Wisconsin cannot keep getting hamstrung by its own return game if it expects to contend at the top of the Big 10 or in bowl games.

Those two issues aside, Bucky played a solid game today and looked like the 5-0 team from the start of the season instead of the 0-2 team from the last few weeks. I'll conclude this wrap-up with wishes for an awesome and safe halloween for everyone up in Madison (I wish I was there!) See you next week and...

On to the Hoosiers, On to 7-2, and ON WISCONSIN!!!

A Consolidated Friday Preview of Minnesota Meh - Hockey v. Alaska-Anchorage, Football v. Sparty.

JG2112 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:38 -0000

More photos » by Al Goldis - AP

SPARTY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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Let's get hockey out of the way first. Lucia has a mess to figure out (three shutouts, and three losses and a tie in four games so far) and he needs to do it quick before the season spins out of control. The Seawolves provide a nice opportunity to right the ship. Here's a preview from Gopher Puck Live. If things develop this weekend in the rare Friday - Sunday series and warrant a review, you'll get one here.

Now, football. The Michigan State Spartans are coming to town. Gopher Nation talked with The Only Colors yesterday about some aspects of the game tomorrow. It's a critical game for both teams, and it's obviously Sparty's first trip to TCF. It's also another opportunity for Sparty to have a SPARTY NOOOOOOOOO moment.

Don't know what I'm talking about? If any fan base can relate to the SPARTY NOOOOOOOO moment, it's Minnesota. It's the combination of coaching, player, and scheme meltdowns that lead to a ridiculous late-game loss. Sparty has had this happen in comical ways over the years - obviously, having goofs like Bobby Williams and John L. Smith as your coach lead to comedy (on that note, can you believe Nick Saban once coached there?). For a good example, think the 2006 Notre Dame - Sparty game. Sparty surrendered a 37-21 fourth quarter lead in a pouring rainstorm. At home. Good fun - watch it here.

Sparty is having one heck of a run of SPARTY NOOOOOOOO moments this year, though. Take your pick as to which one is the best. Was it against Central Michigan, where the Chippewas recovered an onside kick and got to rekick their last-second field goal after Sparty was offside on a block, shocking the Spartans at home for the third time? Was it against Notre Dame, where Kirk Cousins missed a wide open receiver in the end zone on the game's penultimate play, and threw an INT across his body, on the run, into the center of the defense, on the final relevant play?

How about against Michigan, where Sparty shackled the Wolverines for 56 minutes, but let Tate Forcier construct two touchdowns to Darryl Stonum and Roy Roundtree, one with :09 left in the driving rain with Forcier completely exhausted, before midnight struck for Forcier in overtime? Last Saturday, however, may take the cake. Up by 4, Sparty coach Mark Dantonio decided to revert to a three-man rush until the game's last play, where he rushed seven. Kirk Ferentz called his bluff, motioned Tony Moeaki across the formation, got Marvin McNutt on a one-on-one situation AT THE THREE YARD line, ran a slant, and look at the picture above. Again, ONE ON ONE and a three yard SLANT pass was wide open? Truly, SPARTY NOOOOOOO. The Dantonio face after the TD catch was priceless, and totally deserved for the bitter Spartan coach.

Minnesota can relate to these kind of moments, however (Iowa 1994, Northwestern 2000, Michigan 2003 and 2004, Wisconsin 2005, Texas Tech 2006, the month of November 2008). The rules of college football now dictate that even if both teams wet the bed, someone has to win the game. Who is going to choke less? We'll find out tomorrow.

Before getting to some stats and predictions, a couple notes. First, all the best to Eric Decker. He is proof that the Scout and Rivals guys cannot quantify hard work, talent and perseverance. Think of all the fine receivers Minnesota has had over the years. Decker is the finest this university has ever seen (and Brewster, no, it's not an "excellent opportunity" for your team - losing Decker sucks - you ought to know this from November 2008). Unfortunately, that weird step he took on the out pass against Ohio State will directly affect his financial and football future, as it seems he'll need 5-8 months to recover from surgery on the foot. Whoever drafts this guy is getting a steal. Vikings or Lions, please pick him up.

In case you were wondering, had Glen Mason remained as coach, the Gophers' wideouts this year and last would have been Decker and Wisconsin WR David Gilreath. Gilreath, who decommitted after Mason was fired, would have been nice to have around in Decker's absence, both last year and this.

And if you shutter an envious eye at Spartan LB Greg Jones, the preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, don't be too mad when you realize that Jones also de-committed from Minnesota after Mason was fired. Of course, Mason was a terrible recruiter, so this doesn't matter anymore. Jones and Campbell are similar players in production this year. However, Jones is but a junior while Campbell is gone in 2 months. (also, if you remember seeing starting Cal LB Devin Bishop, well, he had committed twice to Minny before Mason was fired, and he then decommitted to go to Cal.)

Alright, on to Saturday. When I previewed this game in August and debuted the term "Wild Rodent," I predicted a 23-20 win for Michigan State. Things haven't really changed this year to change my prediction in any significant way.

The teams line up pretty well in regard to scoring stats. Michigan State averages 27.25 ppg (57th nationally) and gives up 20.75 ppg (39th). On the other hand, Minnesota averages 21.13 ppg (101st) and gives up 25.13 ppg (70th). Based on these stats, empiricists would expect a 26-21 final score in favor of Sparty. Let's throw a couple more statistical and aesthetic logs on the fire:

(1) The biggest log, of course, is the absence of Decker. There are a couple ways this could go. On the one hand, Weber could look lost without his security blanket, will struggle, causing fan unrest (and let's face it, drunken students and fans will not be quiet on Halloween) and causing the coaches (if they're not oblivious) to play more Gray. On the other hand, Weber may feel more comfortable to spread the ball around to everyone, in turn making the Gopher offense more diverse and dangerous. Of course, this will require the Gopher WRs (Brandon, Stoudermire and Carpenter, in particular) to make plays. The chances are there, although without the Decker double-team, Sparty can commit more defenders to the rush. Spreading Sparty out with the pass may be the way to success.

(2) Michigan State has no such issues in the passing game, which could make tomorrow very depressing for Gopher fans. Sparty is 22nd nationally in passing offense, averaging 273.50 ypg. The Gophers, in contrast, are 77th nationally in pass defense, averaging 229.63 ypg. This despite playing Air Force and a first-time college QB (Paulus) in the opener. Sparty has a quality set of wide receivers: walk-on Blair White (who, conveniently, is also white), Mark Dell, BJ Cunningham and TE Charlie Gantt. As Minnesota gives up one passing touchdown each week where no Gopher defender is within 15 yards of the receiver (Air Force, Purdue, Penn State, Ohio State), expect a similar breakdown or two this week.

(3) Go back to #1. How much will MarQueis Gray play? If he does play, remember a couple of things: (a) Gray led his touchdown drive against the second-string Buckeye defense that had called off the dogs. Sparty's first-string defense is top quality. (b) Gray won't progress much past the first option and will be subject to a tough pass rush. Expect growing pains. (c) Remember, if Gray is in, Greg Jones will likely spy him. I'm not sure that will end too well for Gray. Perhaps Illinois's porous defense is a better week in which to further integrate Gray into the game.

(4) The night experience. Who knows how this will go? On the one hand, drunken students make for a raucous crowd. Will they keep the faith if things go wrong? Will they verbally assault Brewster and Fisch if the playcalling (probably) goes haywire? Will the cold sap the life out of the crowd (I saw this first-hand in Iowa City this year - their Homecoming crowd was dead after the second play of the game, a Stanzi INT for TD. The cold also played a large part in it. Frankly, so did playing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" when the Hawkeyes re-entered the stadium in the second half.)

Well, both teams are 4-4, which is what we thought they were in August. Sparty needs to recover from its SPARTY NOOOOOO moment last week, and needs to recover to meet its preseason bowl expectations. Minnesota continues to build toward success in 2011 (and fans, stop asking for it, because Tim Brewster's going to be here at least until 2011).

I'm not sure what to expect (though when Dantonio's team falls apart at some point tomorrow, I hope you yell SPARTY NOOOOOOOO), but I do know this. If Sparty gives up more than 20 points in 2009, they lose. I don't think it happens tomorrow (at least in regulation):

Michigan State 24 - Minnesota 20.

Everyone Is So Not Who I Thought They Were: Wisconsin Loses to Iowa 20-10

hmlee — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:36:03 -0000

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Well, except for Northwestern. But that's a story for a different post. You know, if you only look at the first half of the Ohio State game and the first half of the Iowa game, then Wisconsin is 7-0. Wait... I'm not allowed to do that?

Aw, shucks.

So, maybe this glass isn't half full. The Badgers, once again, managed to play 30 minutes of great football before utterly collapsing. Except, this time the collapse came at home at Camp Randall and not on the road in a tough game in the 'Shoe. Today's game against Iowa really was a game of what ifs...

What if Bielema hadn't subbed Curt Phillips in for Scott Tolzien in the 2nd quarter and seemingly killed Wisconsin's offensive momentum for the rest of the game?

What if Tolzien hadn't thrown three more interceptions - one of which eventually resulted in 7 points for Iowa, and two which killed crucial 4th quarter drives?

What if Garrett Graham hadn't suffered a head injury in the first half?

What if John Clay hadn't also suffered an injury, which seemed to slow down his run game in the second half?

What if Nick Toon hadn't dropped a catchable pass at about the five yard line on third down?

What if Philip Welch hadn't subsequently missed a 38 yard field goal, leaving the score tied?

Finally, what if the Badger defense hadn't completely dissappeared for two quarters, allowing Iowa to put up 20, yes, 20, unanswered points?

In the end, though, the really great teams find a way to win despite all the what ifs on any given Saturday and the kinda-sorta-good teams, well, don't.

Seems like the 2009 Wisconsin Badgers are a kinda-sorta-good team, huh?

Graham takes a look at the Big 10 match-up of the week...

I replay the tough loss against Ohio State in week 6...

If you noticed, the top of my post is titled "Everyone is so not who I thought they were..." I'll get more into Wisconsin below, but I'd like to briefly talk about Iowa and Ohio State. As much as it kills me to write this, maybe Iowa is the best team in the Big 10. I was rather bruatlized by Iowa fans earlier this season for ranking them below OSU and Penn State. At the time, I said, "Show me more." Well, they have, and with OSU's shocking loss to Purdue today, I think I'm ready to change my mind.

Iowa, I've concluded, is the res ipsa loquitur team. You don't really know how it happened, but they keep on winning against good teams, and you know that usually undefeated teams are great so, like with res ipsa loquitur, you're kind of forced to conclude that they are a great team. It's odd, though. They don't have a run game. Their QB can be good, but he also has an alarming propensity to throw interceptions at crucial moments. Their defense is obviously very, very good but usually that by itself is not enough to win a conference. Really, they shouldn't be this good. But they are. And that's all that matters.

Ohio State... well, after today they look like a great team that is going to be fatally undone by the very mediocre play of the quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Their defense is amazing. The front seven completely brutalized Tolzien and the Bucky offense last week. Their linebackers find ways to intercept balls and then score touchdowns off of them. Their special teams is consistently good, and has the ability to break off the great type of plays that define a conference champion. But... they too, don't have a running game. And their QB isn't nearly as capable as Ricky Stanzi.

Where does this leave the conference, then? Iowa still has a date at the 'Shoe, which they could easily lose. But, unless they also get upset by one of Michigan State, Indiana, Northwestern, or Minnesota they are going to win the Big 10. I don't think that they will go to the BCS championship game, but that says more about the BCS voters than it does the Iowa team. So, that means they'd be ticketed for the Rose Bowl, likely against USC. If, on the other hand, they lose to OSU, get upset in one of their other four conference match-ups, AND Ohio State doesn't lose another game, the Buckeyes would head to the Rose Bowl via the tiebreak rules.

Okay... back to Wisconsin. Wisconsin is not who I thought they were. They are worse. I was very happy about the road win at Minnesota, and, while the Ohio State game was painful to watch, I understood the loss. It is true that in both of those games they looked a bit shaky... but I chalked that up to a young team playing on the road. It's starting to look more like this play is endemic to the team itself, and not just a factor of being on the road.

So, here are the takeaways from today's game:

Offense:

I still love Scott Tolzien, despite his sudden rash of interceptions. He's having a lot more pressure put on him because of failures of our offensive line, and that plus a few bad decisions is causing the turnovers. It is important to note that these turnovers have come against the two best defensive units in the Big 10. If he can avoid doing that against lesser defenses, then Wisconsin can still finish this season strong.

Despite my detractors last week, I still love John Clay. He is a feature back. Starting because Zach Brown was out due to a concussion, Clay managed to rack up 70 rushing yards in the first half. He suffered a leg injury of some kind in the second quarter, and it might have been that or fatigue that made him ineffective in the second half. I also have to give credit to Montee Ball, the freshman, for stepping in admirably after that injury to Clay. He had some great carries, including a 10 yard TD run. It is my hope that Clay's injury is not serious and that he'll be ready to go for next week, because if he's out, the Wisconsin offense is in trouble.

Defense:

I think that the defense is still a great unit - for the first half of the football game. I have no idea where they go after the half, and that is something that needs to be addressed. They are a young unit with great capacity for improvement over the next two years, but they need to learn to play for 60 minutes. They tend to come out strong - forcing both OSU and Iowa to 3 and outs in the start of these past two games, but then they fade. They have the ability to force turnovers - today's fumble recovery was their 17th of the season - but the secondary is weak and our cornerbacks get beat on pass plays far too often.

Special Teams:

The special teams is merely okay. Philip Welch had a great middle of the season.. after going only 2/5 in FG attemps in the first two games he had three straight perfect weeks. Then, he missed two last week and one this week. One of the missed ones against OSU was an absurdly long 57 yarder, which is excusable, but the other was a 33 yarder. Today's missed FG was a 38 yarder. Those two misses are not okay. His job as a kicker is to come on and put up points on the board when asked. If the offense is forcing him into extremely long situations, then it's understandable that he would miss a few, but he can't be missing chip shot or routine field goals. Our kick returns today were not nearly as bad as last week, but they still weren't good. David Gilreath really doesn't look comfortable out there. I'm not sure if the special teams mediocrity is because of the players or because of Brett Bielema. Maybe after this season he should hire a full time ST coach.

Coaching:

Our offensive playcalling was fine for the first half... Clay was performing well and Tolzien threw the ball when he needed to. The second half? Not so much. Time after time, Iowa stacked eight players and shut down the Wisconsin run game. Time after time, we continued to run on first down. The one time that we threw on first down in the fourth quarter we threw to the running back! I'm not sure why the versatility in the Badgers' offense disappeared, but the coaches need to remember that interceptions and receiver drops aside, Tolzien is a good QB - if you give him plays to throw on.

I'm reluctant to blame the performance of the defense on the coaching. Our blitzes were getting picked up too easily in the late game, but a lot of the other defensive issues can be blamed on missed tackles, idiotic penalties, and a secondary that just gets beat. I feel like if the coaching were to blame, the defense wouldn't be good at all, not good for a half and then non-existent for the second half.

So... After the bye, Wisconsin next gets Purdue at home. Purdue is not a good team. Yes, they did just beat Ohio State, but I think we can all agree that was completely unexpected. Wisconsin needs to take a hard look at the film from the last two weeks and figure out where things have gone so wrong. The season and a good bowl bid can still be saved. Let's start now.

On to game 8, On to getting back on track, and ON WISCONSIN!!!

Grading out the Badgers: A midterm report card

Adam Hoge — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:49:08 -0000

More photos » by Terry Gilliam - AP

The fire under Bret Bielema's seat has cooled down a bit this season, but he, his coaching staff and team could still grade out better . (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

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With six games in the book, it's amazing that we are already halfway through the 2009 regular season schedule. At 5-1, it's safe to say the Badgers are playing a little bit above expectations, but one could easily argue they still have a lot to improve on.

Wisconsin's six opponents are a combined 18-15 so far this season, which is not a bad number when you consider its opponents have played tough schedules (Fresno State lost to two Top-15 schools, Minnesota lost to California and Ohio State lost to USC).

If the Badgers can get by Iowa this weekend, an 11-1 regular season record would not be out of the question with the remaining schedule. Not including the Hawkeyes, UW's remaining opponents are only 14-15. But if that is going to happen, UW will have to improve in some areas.

Here's a unit-by-unit report card for the first half of the season:

Quarterback - B

Scott Tolzien has yet to give himself an "A" performance this season even though I might have after a couple of his efforts. He's at least been a B+ at home and more like a C+ on the road, but when you consider the prospects for UW's quarterbacks coming into the season, it's hard not to give a B grade here. Wisconsin is still only ranked seventh in passing in the Big Ten, but Tolzien still ranks third in passing effeciency with a 139.60 rating.

Running back - B

Expectations for running backs at Wisconsin have gotten so high that most fans would be shocked to know UW leads the conference rushing despite it being a struggle at times this season. John Clay is the conference's leading running back (106.8 yards per game) and has only started one game. When's the last time that happened?

Still, fumbling has been a problem and while Clay came up big with a 72-yard touchdown run at Fresno State and singlehandedly took over the second half of the Minnesota game, the rushing attack could still be more consistent.

Receivers - C+

Don't get me wrong, the receivers have improved and while a tight end (Garrett Graham) still leads the team in catches and touchdowns, Nick Toon leads the team in receiving yards (322) and averages 53 yards per game. But the reality is that UW's receivers are still not great. They only have three touchdowns on the season and Issac Anderson hasn't caught a touchdown pass since the first offensive play of the season when he caught an 80-yard bomb from Tolzien. David Gilreath, Maurice Moore and Kyle Jefferson have a combined 13 catches.

Tight ends - A-

What more can you ask for from Garrett Graham? With 27 catches, he ranks third in the nation for catches among tight ends (the leaders have 28) and he has four touchdowns on the year, including three in one game. Meanwhile, Lance Kendricks is fourth on the team in receptions and has two touchdowns himself. That's right, UW's tight ends have double the touchdowns than the receivers. What's new?

Offensive line - B-

Roughed up by injuries, the line has been better, but still inconsistent. Ohio State called the UW offense line "the best we've seen all year" and that included USC. But that was before the game. Tolzien was sacked six times, and while the line had only given up two sacks all year in its first five games, the reality is that it really hadn't been tested yet. The return of John Moffitt helped the running game, but in the first four games, John Clay and Zach Brown found few holes to run through.

Defensive line - B+

O'Brien Schofield continues to perform like an All-American. That's right, I said it. He leads the country in tackles for loss with 14.5 and is twelfth in sacks with 6.5. His TFLs add up to 74 yards lost. That's 12 yards more than David Gilreath has accumulated on all his end-around rushes combined this season. After a hot start, J.J. Watt has cooled off a bit, but he, Dan Moore, Patrick Butrym and Louis Nzegwu have all been key contributors this season.

Linebackers - B

The linebackers have been solid all season. None of them will be first-team All-Big Ten, but you can't complain about the performances of Mike Taylor, Jaevery McFadden and Culmer St. Jean. They certainly haven't made any major mistakes. And you have to be happy that redshirt freshman Taylor leads the team with 43 tackles and has contributed 6.5 tackles for loss, a sack and an interception.

Defensive backs - C-

This would be a "D" if were not for free safety Chris Maragos' 28 tackles, three TFLs, one sack and three interceptions. Otherwise, Jay Valai has made no one miss Shane Carter and Aubrey Pleasant, who were kicked off the team in August, but the cornerbacks have not been good.

Who would have thought sophomore Aaron Henry would have zero interceptions and only three pass break-ups halfway through the season? All four cornerbacks have been beat deep and given up touchdowns they could have stopped with easy fundamentals. For the most part -- save the first half against Fresno State -- the corners have put together solid games. Unfortunately, they consistently give up two or three big plays a game that put the entire team in a hole or allow the other team to dig out of one.

Special teams - D

Here's a trivia question for you. How many total yards does David Gilreath have on punt returns this season? The answer? An astonishingly low 29 yards on seven returns. That's 4.1 yards per return. And seven returns is also a low number because he has played head games with himself all season long, calling fair catches in situations where he could have returned the punt and not called a fair catch in situations where he should have.

Meanwhile, Bret Bielema replaced Gilreath on kick returns -- where he is actually averaging an OK 21.5 yards per return -- instead of on punt returns. Bielema's coverage teams have not been good either. While UW's punt coverage team ranks a very average 51st in the country, its kickoff coverage team ranks 120th out of 130 FBS teams, giving up 26.28 yards per return. Maybe its finally time the head coach gives up his special teams duties.

Coaching - B-

There's no question the players bought into a new mindset this offseason that encouraged focus, physicality and commitment. But UW is still averaging six penalties per game (No. 42 in the country) and that is costing them 52.5 yards per game.

The game plans have been better this year, but there is still a void in execution (see Ohio State game). Baby steps, my friends.