2018 Wisconsin Badgers football

[DuWayne Steurer]

Its hard to believe this team was picked by many to be a playoff team.

 

I really like cryst. He seems like a genuinely good dude, but he is the most conservative coach ever. As others have said, the margin for error at UW is non existant. You have to take chances when they arise and he just never does.

[pacopete4]

These are Chrysts players now too. Alarming.

[trwi7]

This team is garbage how were they ranked so high in the preseason?

 

Preseason rankings are as much about how the team finished the last year as they are about how they're projected to do this year.

[young guns]

Its hard to believe this team was picked by many to be a playoff team.

 

I really like cryst. He seems like a genuinely good dude, but he is the most conservative coach ever. As others have said, the margin for error at UW is non existant. You have to take chances when they arise and he just never does.

I think he's a really good coach except he's way too conservative.

[OnaBadger58]

This team is garbage how were they ranked so high in the preseason?

From the expected starters, the defense is missing both d ends, both safeties, and a corner. They have an offensive guard playing de. Defense hasn't been all that bad considering the circumstances.

 

The offense coming of the Orange Bowl had very high expectations. They have certainly not lived up to those expectations. Oline has been average, Taylor looks like the 2nd best rb on the team, and our qb hasn't taken that next step passed serviceable.

[owbc]

I think the conservative play is due to Chryst's assessment of the talent level on offense. He has a history of being much more aggressive.

[homer]

I think the conservative play is due to Chryst's assessment of the talent level on offense. He has a history of being much more aggressive.

 

Yes they were more aggressive when Wilson was QB.

[JosephC]

That BYU game was not a fluke. People shouldn't be so surprised that this is probably an 8-4, maybe 7-5 type team. Everyone talks about how the DB injuries have hurt them, but the losses on the DL have been much more significant. Going to be tough without Loudermilk, Rand and only having Sagapolu playing a limited amount of snaps.

[LouisEly]

This team is garbage how were they ranked so high in the preseason?

From the expected starters, the defense is missing both d ends, both safeties, and a corner. They have an offensive guard playing de. Defense hasn't been all that bad considering the circumstances.

 

The offense coming of the Orange Bowl had very high expectations. They have certainly not lived up to those expectations. Oline has been average, Taylor looks like the 2nd best rb on the team, and our qb hasn't taken that next step passed serviceable.

Don't forget, they lost their best WR to suspension, they lost their best blocking TE this year, and although Ferguson is good he's replacing Fumagalli. David Edwards has been playing hurt, which hopefully explains his poor play as he allowed a lot of pressure yesterday.

 

These are Chrysts players now too. Alarming.

All of the redshirt seniors and many of the true seniors/redshirt juniors are Anderson's guys. Chryst was trying to keep guys (Kafentzis, Stephenson, Penniston, Sagapolu, etc., were Anderson recruits) as much as bring them in. I don't recall who committed when, but Chryst was hired in December 2014 and the 2015 class was mostly in place. He brought in Hornibrook, but he was a late commit.

 

Between the 2014 class (who would be seniors if they redshirted) and the 2015 class they recruited six WRs (Watkins, Jamerson, Sanders, Jones, Rushing, James); only one stayed four years, and he was moved to defense. They have no depth at WR; Taylor (true JR), Pryor (RS SO), and Davis (true SO) are the only non-freshman scholarship WRs they have. I imagine those guys get tired playing so many snaps, which may be a reason why they go the the 2/3 TE sets so much on the predictable run plays.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Hornibrook is flat out awful.

[JosephC]

Watching Alex Hornibrook and Joel Stave makes me long for the days of watching top flight UW quarterbacks like John Stocco. That's right, John Stocco. How pathetic is that? Hornibrook is just awful. Big 10 level arm-strength, no. Big 10 level accuracy, no. In terms of mobility, I think he might be the worst QB to take the field since Dan Marino. And for how "cerebral" he is, he sure seems to misread coverages over and over. I'm almost expecting Chryst to use the Testaverde-excuse and announce that Hornibrook is color-blind considering how often he throws the ball directly at an opposing player.

 

I have no problem with the way Chryst coached the game last night, but I do have a problem with his choice for a starting QB and his inability to recruit a decent QB. Even the rare 4-star recruits have ended up as completely mediocre players (like Bart Houston). I totally get that the Badgers are a run-first, then run-second and eventually we'll get to the pass type team, and the vast majority of practice time and OL coaching is going to be geared towards running and the pass game will always lag behind. But for Pete's sake, the QB has to be able to complete a simple screen pass. Hornibrook can't even do that. Every time the offensive linemen let the defensive linemen loose, Hornibrook immediately gets happy feet, poops his pants and proceeds to toss the ball right at a defensive lineman. The guy is just awful. He should be playing for the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Bluegolds. He has no business being in a Big 10 uniform. Not even for Rutgers.

 

Can't wait until Hornibrook breaks the school record for number of wins for a quarterback (which, as everyone knows, is currently held by the great Joel Stave). It will be just peachy to hear the talking heads ramble on about how under-rated Hornibrook is and what a wonderful, stabilizing influence he's been for the Badgers and all the various nonsense like that. I think it's pretty obvious at this point that "wins for a quarterback" is just about as meaningful a statistic as "wins for a pitcher" in baseball. Hornibrook and Stave...ugh!

 

I was really looking forward to watching Hornibrook versus Rutgers quarterback (who came into this game with 3 touchdowns and 15 interceptions), and will stand by my statement that Hornibrook isn't even good enough to play for Rutgers.

 

I know the Badgers want to redshirt Coan in the worst way. But if he doesn't start getting at least a few series per game, then Chryst is the one who should start being evaluated for a concussion.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I know we've said it all year (and most seasons for the last 25 years, really) but cryst has to recruit a qb. The quarterback play is just flat-out awful. How many seasons can you go into knowing that it one other aspect of your team, the defense, or the running game, or the special-teams falters just a little bit, then your really bad quarterback play is going to really let you down in a spectacular way.

 

There's many other schools that focus on the Run game that still have more than competent throwing quarterbacks year after year.

 

I don't think too many fans are saying that the Badgers should fundamentally change who they are on offense, but this is just painful to watch.

[PeaveyFury]

They have the #4 QB in the nation committed for this year's recruiting class. He's expected to enroll early, so I would think he'd be given every opportunity to win the job outright even as a true FR.

 

He threw 6 TD passes in his playoff game on Friday. Lots of buzz about him, and an offer sheet that includes Bama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, A&M, etc. He'll be the biggest QB talent to come in here the day he sets foot on campus.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Good.

[PeaveyFury]

Yep. I think for all the Hornibrook haters out there that have been calling for him to be benched, the Northwestern and Penn State games were good indications that he's the best QB currently on the roster. I won't go so far as to say that the outcomes of either of those games would have been different, but that game was there for the taking yesterday if they had any sort of threat through the air on offense. Coan isn't a viable QB 1.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Well to be fair saying Coan is really bad isn't really a glowing endorsement of Hornibrook. I also know that's not what you're actually saying, but hornibrook has been really bad outside of the Miami game. A lot of people, myself included thought that game would be a jumping off point going into this year, and it just wasn't. But that also speaks to the larger issue of thinking that one game is a precursor to something bigger and not having any real quality quarterbacks on the roster.

[Jenkins5]

Graham Mertz time yet? QB is just a giant black hole for this offense. Best Oline & RB in country or at least up there & yet offense can’t do anything. As a defense you can just sell out on run & if Wisconsin beats you through the air.... so be it.

 

Defense is a major issue. Dline has been battered all season, D backs are all freshmen with few sophomores mixed in due Dixon being banged up most of year. Linebackers are good but the weaker the dline, the harder it is for backers

[MrTPlush]

Look not saying Horni is good by any means, but he isn’t really the problem. His biggest problem is he can’t throw it deep, at all. Sure he makes dumb throws, but that isn’t why the offense is about as sad as it gets. Would be nice if that had a QB with an arm once teams stack the box up.

 

Maybe it is the personnel or maybe it is the plays, but no one is every getting open. Sorry to say, but Wisconsin just isn’t going to get a collegiate QB throwing darts. They have to get guys who will create some kind of space. The only guy who has that ability is their TE.

 

I think the terrible receiving corps is the biggest problem with the offense. Horni isn’t going to make things happen, much like most QBs Wisconsin recruits.

[PeaveyFury]

Best Oline & RB in country

 

Hype hasn't been matched by play. Comical amount of o-line penalties, poor pass blocking, and inconsistent run blocking. I think they've been mediocre and a disappointment relative to the preseason talk about the group.

 

But agreed on the rest of your post. The major difference between this team and the past few years is a young, injury-riddled defense. It doesn't help that Chryst still coaches like he has a top 5 defense when on offense, but the defense has been 80% of the team's problem this year.

[JosephC]

The problem with this offense is Hornibrook is terrible and the offense is completely tailored around his poor arm-strength, poor mobility and inability to complete a simple screen-pass. He sucks.

 

It's just a shame that Coan gets forced into the lineup in two road games against Penn State and Northwestern. Meanwhile Hornibrook gets healthy enough where he should be able to beat up on Rutgers in Madison and still finds a way to look like crap. That's because Hornibrook is terrible and should never see the field again.

 

This is a lost season anyway. I'd be perfectly content to pick one more game for Coan to play in and then just let Vanden Boom go out there and suck it up. How much more of Hornibrook do we have to see to determine that he is not even close to a Big 10 quality player?

[LouisEly]

I just wonder how much of it is Hornibrook's/Coan's skill and how much of it is the offensive scheme and play-calling. Coan has looked eerily similar in his first two starts as Hornibrook did in his first two starts - Coan looked equally bad at Penn State as Hornibrook did at Michigan. Coan has looked OK in the hurry-up offense; why doesn't he look OK the rest of the time?

 

They ran one misdirection play against PSU - a jet sweep to the short side of the field for no gain. I can only recall them running that play a handfull of times this year, and when they have it has been to the short side of the field. Stupid - the point of the jet sweep is to get the "jet" out into space and 1:1 with defenders. There is no space to the short side of the field! They tried running a few screens, but the execution was terrible - that's coaching.

[superfly]

Look not saying Horni is good by any means, but he isn’t really the problem. His biggest problem is he can’t throw it deep, at all. Sure he makes dumb throws, but that isn’t why the offense is about as sad as it gets. Would be nice if that had a QB with an arm once teams stack the box up.

 

Maybe it is the personnel or maybe it is the plays, but no one is every getting open. Sorry to say, but Wisconsin just isn’t going to get a collegiate QB throwing darts. They have to get guys who will create some kind of space. The only guy who has that ability is their TE.

 

I think the terrible receiving corps is the biggest problem with the offense. Horni isn’t going to make things happen, much like most QBs Wisconsin recruits.

 

He is god awful beyond any measure. He is the Nathan Peterman of college football.

[WV Brew]

In my opinion, you can't really use injuries as an excuse. There are always injuries in football. It's how you cope with them that determines the better teams. Christ hasn't recruited adequate backups and those that get in don't seem prepared. Coan can't even take the snap from center.

 

The offense is the most predictable I have ever seen. Give me the down and distance together with the personnel package on the field and I can predict with 90% or so accuracy what the Badgers are going to run. You don't want Coan in 3rd and long so why not throw on first occasionally including down field? Why not run on 3rd and long sometimes? Contrast that with Northwestern where you really don't know what they might do from down to down.

[BillScottCanRake]

I am not sure what to think about this team other than it has not played well and that falls on the entire team, coaches and players alike. Players playing better would help, and probably help inspire the coaches to call a different game. Less predictably probably would help the players be more successful, but it will only go so far.

 

Wisconsin will probably never have a program like Alabama or Ohio State which will allow them to coast to a 10-2 or 11-1 record. Maybe they aren't casting, but they sure aren't living up to being a final four contender.

 

Losing Cephus right before the start of the season had to hurt, but he also broke his leg last season and they managed without him. I do think Davis and Taylor are better suited to being complementary parts instead of the focus of the passing game, but I think they have regressed and that has hurt the passing game.

 

The defense is a work in progress. Last year's defense allowed the offense to play they way they did and have a lot of success... short fields, staying ahead on the scoreboard, etc, things that are not happening this year. The offense, both in terms of personnel and style of play, are never going to be comfortable playing games like they have this year and it shows.

 

I think next year will be a big year for the program. They will have to replace most of their offensive line, but they will be very experienced at QB and the skill positions. The defense will still be youngish but they will have a fair amount of experience, so they should be in a position to be a bigger contributor. And they won't be expected to play for any titles, so less pressure may help. And they will have their best QB prospect to ever set foot on campus. If the program makes the necessary adjustments (tweaks moreau than changes) the optimism of last year and this past offseasons should return. If not, we may be talking about Chryst's Badgers winning 8,9 and 10 games most years.

[homer]

The offensive line has absolutely been the biggest disappointment this year.