Wisconsin Blog

September 3, 2009

Northern Illinois vs Wisconsin Preview
By: PJ Madsen

           The Badgers are in for a tough test Saturday. Northern Illinois comes in with a spread attack that has given the Badgers fits over the past few years (Daryl Clark, Terrelle Pryor) They have an experienced quarterback and offensive line, and should be able to run on the young Badger front seven. The Northern Illinois offense is in their second year of coach Kill’s system, and the offense should continue to improve after reaching a bowl game last year. They are good enough and have the talent to make it to a second straight bowl game, despite the loss of first round pick Larry English.
 
            However, this becomes an issue of matchups (like any football game) The Badgers obvious strengths at the skill positions will far outweigh any advantages the Huskies may have. NIU only returns 4 starters from last years defense that played the pass extremely well, but loses both starting corners. In this game though, the badgers will choose to allow their running game to do the talking.
 
I expect to see both quarterbacks play quite a bit. John Clay and Zach Brown will both go over 100 yards for the day. The defense will struggle to stop the running QB’s of Northern Illinois, but will still come away for a victory.
 

44-24 Wisconsin

August 9, 2009

A Badger Blog
By: PJ Madsen

There have been plenty of good articles on the Badgers upcoming season this week thus far. I have attached a few for those who would like to peruse
 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-04-big-ten-wisconsin-aug04,0,1509845.story

Personally I do not think Sherer will be the starter by the time the season starts, he is a fine QB but the questions on the O-Line make a mobile QB inherently more valuable. I still look for Curt Phillips to be starting by the time the Big Ten season begins. I agree that the midseason Gauntlet of games will show what this team is made of. Bielema needs to hold the team together during this stretch to prove that he in fact belongs in the Big Ten as a head coach.
 
http://northwestern.scout.com/2/885304.html

This is a pretty good short preview for the Badgers. Agree on most counts
 
http://www.superiortelegram.com/event/article/id/36499/

Good article talking about the battles at the line positions. Looks like Ogelsby will have to prove his stuff as a 5 star recruit. Its concerning that Bsherer ,one of the projected starting guards feels he struggles in pulling assignments, and the other struggles against small quick edge rushers. We should all watch for this during the season to see how it improves. Also watch for the young, intelligent early enrollee who may see some playing time this year.
 
http://collegehoopsnet.com/big-ten-football-preview-167051

College Hoops.net has little confidence in the Badgers this year. Defense looks to be their biggest concern.
 
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/first-and-big-ten/2009/08/big-ten-football-the-weak-spots.html

Little bit of a confusing article claiming the main weakness is at linebacker. They actually have more experience coming back then on the D-Line. He probably changed his mind midway through the article.
 
 
http://www.examiner.com/x-18989-Wisconsin-Badgers-Examiner~y2009m8d6-Wisconsin-Badger-football-preview-running-backs

I don’t expect Clay to get 30-35 carries a game, Brown has the ability to be punishing but its nice to have him bring up Ball, who I failed to mention in my preview. He should see his fare share of carries as well.
 
http://www.examiner.com/x-18989-Wisconsin-Badgers-Examiner~y2009m8d3-Wisconsin-Badgers-preview-quarterbacks

Not sure about this article either calling a 121 QB rating heft in college is questionable. Wisconsin has had some decent drop back passers two of them play in the NFL albeit as backups.
 
http://www.badgerbeat.com/news/article/id/459977

Its nice to see that someone is willing to take responsibility. It’s also interesting to see that the seniors failed their teammates last year, and Bielema even blames himself for it. The lack of leadership could be seen often on gameday.
 
More articles and notes to come including an article about my first experience with Badger football.

August 3, 2009

Wisconsin Badgers Blog
By: Paul

First and foremost I would like to thank Phil Steele and his team for allowing me to blog on the Badgers this season. I hope to all that I will be informative and let badger fans get a grasp of how one person views this season. It’s always been a dream of mine to cover college football in some way. I will also preface this to say that I am not necessarily a Badger fan, though I have rooted for them in some form since my youth. I may get into that at a later date in another blog entry, as I hope to post frequently.

First at QB, Phil had thought the job was Curt Phillips’ to lose, however after the spring game Coach Bielema followed a long standing tradition of starting the upperclassman, Dustin Sherer, going into 2009, despite a good spring (and great spring game) from Phillips. Phillips will most likely get a few more close looks at camp, and could still win the job during camp or the season. He is the more athletic QB that could give the young line a chance to gel and give the offense more time to make plays.

At running back the big story out of camp seemed to be slimmed down John Clay. In some reports it was said he was down to around 232 lbs. This could be a double edged sword however as PJ Hill did the same last year and his durability suffered. Clay hopes that at a lighter weight he will be able to stay on the field longer. Still the running game will be a two headed monster, and we should expect big years out of both Clay and Zach Brown (who had a huge spring game for what its worth) With the line coming together I would not be surprised to once again see multiple backs over a 800 yards especially with this years schedule.

The receivers look to be a real strength of this offense this year, despite the loss of third all time leading receiver, Travis Beckum. Garrett Graham (now officially being watched by the Mackey Award, which can be a bit creepy) is the team’s top receiver and expected to be a high draft pick next spring. The rest of the corp is deep, and it appears whoever is throwing the ball will have plenty of guys to throw to. With a good running game you can once again expect to see the talent stretch the field for the stable of running backs.

Having time to throw is a whole other story entirely. The team returns only 2 starters on the line, and while very talented, this line is virtually untested. Under Barry Alvarez the line served as the identity for the Badgers. When you thought Wisconsin football you though Aaron Gibson, Chris McIntosh, or Joe Thomas, Josh Oglesby could be the next in the great line of Wisconsin lineman but he will have to show it on the field this year, a he hopefully emerge as a leader who can once again bust open holes for Clay and Brown.

The defensive line only returns one starter, but most think that this will still be a good unit. O’Brien Schofield returns, and should be able to provide some pressure on the QB. However, the relatively inexperienced line, will have to work hard to stop the run and get pressure on the QB’s in the Big Ten, There are a couple of young guns waiting in the wings, that could rise up and get some playing time.

Many last year expected the Wisconsin Linebackers to lead the defense and the Badgers to a Big Ten title, however they had trouble living up to expectations. They lost two starters, but return plenty of experience at linebacker and the group should be solid if not spectacular.

The big news out of the defensive backfield this summer has been the dismissal of Nate Goins from the team and his supposed transfer to San Jose State. Even with this departure, this is a strong deep group with three starters back. A fourth Aaron Henry, who was one of the top freshman corners in the country, is now coming back after a medical redshirt last year. This will be the group that will need to be the game changers for the Badgers if they hope to rise out of the middle of the pack in a muddled Big Ten.

Special teams, a group that Bielema took personal attention in last year, will once again be strong after starting two freshmen last year. They should continue to improve and be able to help the Badgers win a few close games. However, there were plenty of issues on special teams last year that did not involve the kicking game and this will need to be worked on early in practice to avoid the same mistakes that cost the team games last year.

This is a big year for Bret Bielema and his staff. The hand-picked successor of Barry Alvarez has had a disturbing downward trend in winds, and the perception that he can’t win with his own players is starting to linger over him. Many have questioned his coaching decisions, to run special teams, use timeouts, and make halftime adjustments. The team collapsed against both Michigan, and Michigan State, losing due to what many would consider questionable coaching decisions. The famously at the end of the year, Wisconsin nearly got beaten by Cal-Poly, which I believe could have been a nail in the coffin for Bielema had a kicker not missed three extra points. If we witness many of these same mistakes this year, I would not be surprised if Bielema goes on the chopping block. The Badgers have one of the largest athletic budgets in the country and its fans, and administration should expect more out of their signature program.

In summary, the keys to this year, are finding consistency at the QB position, developing depth on a young defensive line, and the young talent on the line developing chemistry with the two running backs. Should they do this, the Badgers could have a good year in a weak Big Ten. My prediction as it stands right now, with a weak out of conference schedule, would be 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten. This could mean a trip to a New Year’s Day bowl and an improvement over last year. This usually would be the type of year Wisconsin could lay claim to the Big Ten with a down Ohio St. and Michigan, has Wisconsin now fallen this far or can they get back to be the third team in the Big Ten that the league needs to change its national perception. Practice starts Aug 10th, I’ll have more news as it goes forward.