Wisconsin Football 2023

[adambr2]

Is it just me or did the play clock operator go out of his way the last 5 minutes of the game to try to fudge things to Illinois' advantage from time to time?

[Jim French Stepstool]

Thoughts:

A typical start with the fumble that led to a TD & some bad penalties. That stuff was mostly cleaned up in the 2nd half, though, so hopefully a trend.

Good to see B. Allen leaned on in the 2nd half, and him responding positively. Still feels like it's "passing to set up the run" more than the other way around, but it worked in the final couple drives. One thing that indicates a little more concerted effort to run the ball--Mostly Rucci & Nowakowski (blockers) at TE. I don't know if Ashcraft ever even saw the field.

It's fun to see someone grow up before your very eyes. I was ready to comment that I thought Locke was OK after his early fumble, but he was receiving very little help (no 1st half run game, a few drops). Whie this is true, he never let the moments get too big for him, and his 4th quarter performance was an awful lot of fun to watch. Even with Allens' final numbers, still not much consistency to the run game. But Locke overcame a lot of 2nd & 3rd and longs. And after the final TD, saw him on the sidelines not going nuts, but still relatively placid. THAT'S impressive.

In a post-game radio interview, Fickell claimed he didn't know about the play call on the pass to Nolan Rucci.

Some stops defensively when they needed them, but IMO still too shoddy on some of the tackle attempts. And needed to do a much better job of containing Altmyer. In the 3rd quarter, he's faced with a 3rd & 10, rolls right, straddles the line of scrimmage w/o going over, hesitates, looks downfield, finds no one open, then takes off & gains about 15 yards. This, after not wanting to run unless totally necessary. That was put-your-foot-through-the-TV moment #1 for me today. Kinda feels like they missed Jordan Turner. 

Is there something about being a college football announcer that totally discourages anyone with talent from applying? Among other things, when UW scored to make it 21-16, "Oh---they're going for TWO!!!" Dude, any 5th grader that didn't flunk math anticipated that.

As long as I'm commenting on the production end of things, I watched some of Iowa-Minnesota. I have to assume that the guy NBC assigned to direct the telecast was being paid extra for every time he ordered shots of PJ Fleck to be put on screen. I saw fewer pics of Princess Diana in the 80s than I saw of him, and I wasn't even watching it all the way through.

 

 

[Samurai Bucky]

Fortunately, I didn't watch the Iowa game because I was building a hunting stand.  I watched the game this week and was frustrated and excited.

The Badgers make so many mistakes.

I was surprised to see Wisconsin had "only" six penalties vs. 9 for the Illini.  Of the six penalties, how many were pre-snap?  Probably close to all of them.

Also, Rucci should be taking Jugs passes with the WR corps -- to SHOW THEM HOW TO CATCH A BALL!  How many high-talented WRs came in via transfer portal?  I am simply amazed that they can't make even simply catches.  Yes -- Locke's passes weren't all perfect, but I thought they were supposed to be ultra-talented.

I don't understand why, on 3rd and 1, they are in the shotgun... or the pistol.  I almost pooped my pants the one time when they were under center and pushed their way to a first down.  They did that with Allen at the end of the game when it was 2nd and 1 from the 1.  Stuff city...

On a RPO or a read option, I think it is ok for Locke to keep the ball.  If it is an integral part of the "air raid" offense, they should be practicing it a lot.  Maybe that is why the Wisconsin defender got burnt at the end of the game when Altmyer kept the ball -- because Wisconsin's offense RARELY has the QB keep the ball.  Keep the defense honest.

However, I am excited to see Locke progress.  He dropped the one in the bucket nicely, but he needs to learn to lead the crossers a little bit more.  He also showed some moxie getting up after getting sacked on the targeting call.

That said, Badgers lose by 50+ next week to OSU. 

[BrewerFan]

4 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Furntey getting owned by Newton.

 

I think pretty much everyone was/would. Newton is a guy who's a top 10 pick in most drafts(IMO). We'll see how he tests and all that, but if he has a good RAS, he could be the first defender off the board. You LOVE when you have a big guy who gives that type of effort and cares that much.

When he was ejected, THAT is what changed the game. I don't see them coming back with him on the field. All the sudden Locke had cleean pokets to operate from. 

That was an obvious targeting...I don't think it was cheap or dirty, I think he knew right away. I just think he got close, he exploded...because how often do you get there a split second late...and you could see the pain in his eyes.

That's the type of dude I want on our DL. I don't think he's got the first step Carter has or the speed, but I think he's a 10+ sack IDL in a one gap scheme. 

Imagine this guy the last couple years with Trevon Walker, Wyatt, Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith...and everyone else?

I love watching this guy play and I hope he ends up in the AFC or at least not the NFCN.

[BrewerFan]

3 hours ago, adambr2 said:

Is it just me or did the play clock operator go out of his way the last 5 minutes of the game to try to fudge things to Illinois' advantage from time to time?

It's not just you, but again, we  should remember they keep time on the field and the TV isn't always right. For instance, there was a play that...according to the TV ended with 27 seconds left. I don't recall which, but the next play ran and there was still 27 seconds left. If you listen closely, you hear the Head Umpire telling them to put the clock at 35 seconds(I believe, it was hard to hear).

So maybe. That was the most egregious to the people I watched it with, but it SEEMS like there was an explanation there. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

4 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

Fortunately, I didn't watch the Iowa game because I was building a hunting stand.  I watched the game this week and was frustrated and excited.

The Badgers make so many mistakes.

I was surprised to see Wisconsin had "only" six penalties vs. 9 for the Illini.  Of the six penalties, how many were pre-snap?  Probably close to all of them.

Also, Rucci should be taking Jugs passes with the WR corps -- to SHOW THEM HOW TO CATCH A BALL!  How many high-talented WRs came in via transfer portal?  I am simply amazed that they can't make even simply catches.  Yes -- Locke's passes weren't all perfect, but I thought they were supposed to be ultra-talented.

I don't understand why, on 3rd and 1, they are in the shotgun... or the pistol.  I almost pooped my pants the one time when they were under center and pushed their way to a first down.  They did that with Allen at the end of the game when it was 2nd and 1 from the 1.  Stuff city...

On a RPO or a read option, I think it is ok for Locke to keep the ball.  If it is an integral part of the "air raid" offense, they should be practicing it a lot.  Maybe that is why the Wisconsin defender got burnt at the end of the game when Altmyer kept the ball -- because Wisconsin's offense RARELY has the QB keep the ball.  Keep the defense honest.

However, I am excited to see Locke progress.  He dropped the one in the bucket nicely, but he needs to learn to lead the crossers a little bit more.  He also showed some moxie getting up after getting sacked on the targeting call.

That said, Badgers lose by 50+ next week to OSU. 

In the case of the RPO, I don't think we're going to see Locke keep the ball very often the rest of the way because A) Locke isn't nearly the runner Mordecai is, and B) you're now down one rung further on the depth chart so I don't see them asking him to gain yards on the ground a whole lot.

The receivers stepped up pretty well in the 4th quarter. Certainly there were 3 or 4 balls earlier that could've been caught & weren't. I've said before; I believe there's sufficient talent in that group but the problem is there's no one go-to guy to stretch a secondary. That'll be maybe the biggest problem next week--I don't see anyone that can consistently beat OSUs' man coverage, and this line just doesn't run block consistently vs good-to-average fronts, not to mention the front seven they'll be seeing in 7 days.

[SomewhereInTime]

4 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

Fortunately, I didn't watch the Iowa game because I was building a hunting stand.  I watched the game this week and was frustrated and excited.

The Badgers make so many mistakes.

I was surprised to see Wisconsin had "only" six penalties vs. 9 for the Illini.  Of the six penalties, how many were pre-snap?  Probably close to all of them.

Also, Rucci should be taking Jugs passes with the WR corps -- to SHOW THEM HOW TO CATCH A BALL!  How many high-talented WRs came in via transfer portal?  I am simply amazed that they can't make even simply catches.  Yes -- Locke's passes weren't all perfect, but I thought they were supposed to be ultra-talented.

I don't understand why, on 3rd and 1, they are in the shotgun... or the pistol.  I almost pooped my pants the one time when they were under center and pushed their way to a first down.  They did that with Allen at the end of the game when it was 2nd and 1 from the 1.  Stuff city...

On a RPO or a read option, I think it is ok for Locke to keep the ball.  If it is an integral part of the "air raid" offense, they should be practicing it a lot.  Maybe that is why the Wisconsin defender got burnt at the end of the game when Altmyer kept the ball -- because Wisconsin's offense RARELY has the QB keep the ball.  Keep the defense honest.

However, I am excited to see Locke progress.  He dropped the one in the bucket nicely, but he needs to learn to lead the crossers a little bit more.  He also showed some moxie getting up after getting sacked on the targeting call.

That said, Badgers lose by 50+ next week to OSU. 

I don't think they lose by 50+ next week, Ohio St hasn't been scoring that many points this year.  Sure Wisconsin probably losses but maybe they show some fight and keep it close.

[BruisedCrew]

5 hours ago, SomewhereInTime said:

I don't think they lose by 50+ next week, Ohio St hasn't been scoring that many points this year.  Sure Wisconsin probably losses but maybe they show some fight and keep it close.

The PSU-OSU game highlighted that both teams have strong defenses but mediocre offenses with QBs that their coaches don’t really trust in tight spots.

If UW can keep Harrison somewhat under control and not turn the ball over they could get into a relatively low scoring and competitive game. 
 

The Big 10 has so many painfully terrible teams, especially on offense, that it’s hard to evaluate the 3  decent teams. 

[yourout]

6 hours ago, SomewhereInTime said:

I don't think they lose by 50+ next week, Ohio St hasn't been scoring that many points this year.  Sure Wisconsin probably losses but maybe they show some fight and keep it close.

Anyone know what the early line is?

I would guess OSU to be a 10 point favorite or so 

[BruisedCrew]

3 hours ago, yourout said:

Anyone know what the early line is?

I would guess OSU to be a 10 point favorite or so 

I would guess just a bit higher, like 13-14. 

For the game I expect a score like 27-10. I think the Badgers are going to have trouble moving the ball and scoring. I would take O$U at -14. 

[HarryDoyle]

I would expect an at least 24 point defeat. I'd take OSU all day.

[LouisEly]

4 hours ago, BruisedCrew said:

I would guess just a bit higher, like 13-14. 

For the game I expect a score like 27-10. I think the Badgers are going to have trouble moving the ball and scoring. I would take O$U at -14. 

Badgers +14.  O/U is 43.  Pretty close.

[AKCheesehead]

Looks like it could be a cold rainy day for the OSU game. 

[yourout]

15 minutes ago, AKCheesehead said:

Looks like it could be a cold rainy day for the OSU game. 

In days gone by I would say that's helpful for the Badgers but not with this squad.

This version has to be able to pass at least a little bit.

[adambr2]

I expect the Badgers to lose handily.  

 

With that being said. If they actually managed to win, I can see it being a win that we look back on 2 to 3 years from now and see it as the turning point for our program. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

For quite a few years now Ohio State has had talented, athletic, versatile QBs who can beat you in many ways. Combine that with the waves of talent they threw at you in other positions & it's the recipe for the 40-50 pt losses. McCord has been more than good enough but he isn't in that same mold. UW needs to disguise the defensive looks, change things up (the zone coverage actually looked OK Saturday) and just force McCord to have to think, to do some guesswork. Still going to be a monumental task, but play cleaner & catch a couple breaks and I could see them hanging around longer than some expect.

That being said, if I was a betting type I would jump on OSU covering if it stays at 14.

 

[yourout]

Wonder if maybe they'll be a little flat after taking on Penn State last Saturday.

Too bad they don't have a tougher opponent in 2 weeks that would require their attention.

[nate82]

About 20 years ago this happened against Ohio State!  Look at that air raid!!!

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

4 hours ago, nate82 said:

About 20 years ago this happened against Ohio State!  Look at that air raid!!!

 

We were there. Probably as soaked through the skin as I've ever been at a sporting event.

 

But worth it.

[CheezWizHed]

Nice to see Locke settle in the game.  He certainly has been able to move the ball better than Mordecai did. I've had lower expectations this year as a transition year, but will be nice to see him grow into his game.  I feel better about beating MN too. 

[Samurai Bucky]

Opened at 14... moved to 14.5.

https://www.scoresandodds.com/ncaaf

[yourout]

I could see this devolving into a 38-3 loss.

[young guns]

What's the point of using a hard count if you don't even snap the ball when it works?

[wildcat83]

Brutal delay penalty, you’re at the 30 and it’s first half, use a timeout.  Then you punt on 4th and 10, no reason to try a 54 yarder there.  Your defense is playing well, stop giving OSU short fields.  Back to back poor coaching moments.

[adambr2]

A game in which you need to do everything right to win and so far in the 1st they have:

- Kicked the ball off out of bounds 

- Shanked a FG

- Bad miscommunication on a route

- Didn't snap the ball when two defenders jumped offsides and took a delay instead 

- Put the ball on the ground twice 

 

Too bad, because they haven't looked overmatched but you have to be cleaner than this to win a game like this ans aside from that Locke has not been good.