Badgers Football 2019

[yourout]

Hard to really find a true upset...like really surprising win. They are just too consistent and rarely a bottom feeder. It also doesn’t help in recent years Ohio State/Penn State own them. There goes 99% of your chance at an upset. Then before those teams became powerhouses of today (more than they were before) Michigan handily dominated us. Any time we beat those teams in the 90s or early 2000s they were usually not highly ranked and/or having a down year. Just very rarely have we beat one of them and not been really really good ourselves.

 

2010 Ohio State win is probably up there. #1 team mid season (so no fluky 2016 LSU ranking) and we were #18 going into the game. Even at home that’s impressive and we ended up their lone loss over the entire course of the season. Of course we ended up ranking just two spots behind them at the end of the year.

 

Probably more of a compliment than an insult that I can’t think/find any big upset wins we had. Not exactly something you want to be doing because that means you are notably worse than your opponents.

 

If they win Saturday I think I would tab it higher than the previous win vs. Ohio State, simply because we are coming off such a horrendous loss to Illinois. There is little optimism after that.

 

After thinking about it the 1981 upset of then NO1 Michigan might be the biggest upset win in my lifetime. I remember listening to the game while throwing hay bales.

 

At that time Michigan had beaten the Badgers 14 straight times with the last four as shutouts.

[Samurai Bucky]

 

After thinking about it the 1981 upset of then NO1 Michigan might be the biggest upset win in my lifetime. I remember listening to the game while throwing hay bales.

 

This.

 

I was in a pickup truck helping my dad move pallets. I really didn't pay attention to Badger football before that game -- and I was 12. Because of that game, from that moment forward, I was a Badger fan.

[yourout]

 

After thinking about it the 1981 upset of then NO1 Michigan might be the biggest upset win in my lifetime. I remember listening to the game while throwing hay bales.

 

This.

 

I was in a pickup truck helping my dad move pallets. I really didn't pay attention to Badger football before that game -- and I was 12. Because of that game, from that moment forward, I was a Badger fan.

 

Not televised and had to stay up and watch the WHA tv replay at 10pm.

[tmwiese55]

A writer did a breakdown of personnel in the game last week. I don't think I can link to it but 51/75 plays were shotgun/pistol. 21 one of them were runs. From my quick math that means they only ran 5 passes not out of shotgun. They're diversified when in shotgun but it's easy to load up on the box when they're in normal formation if you very rarely pass out of that set. An interesting part is they ran better out of shotgun 21 for 106 over 5 ypc than they did under center. One would think the fact that the D knows it's a run when not in shotgun is a problem. But going to back to some of our comments on OL, in year's past it didn't matter how many were up there (when not playing top level OSU teams), they could just maul them anyway. But in general I think most would agree our Power Running Game strategy doesn't really line up with shotgun 66% of the time. And that you're not taking advantage of the attention our running game commands by countering off it with play action and other misdirection.

 

I recall in the 1H when they had 3rd and 8 on roughly the 32 yd line. This is 4 down territory. They brought JT back out and had Dunn in at wideout, this is dead giveaway that you're running. I'm just an idiot sitting at home and I called it that they're running. They got stuffed. Still made the correct choice to go for it on 4th, but was incomplete. Like 3 plays later Illinois had their first TD on that slant pass they housed. Now, I do like the shotgun run in that situation to set up a manageable 4th. But you can't just tell them what you're doing by not having your real WRs in the game.

[HiAndTight]

I don’t think anyone is saying Illinois didn’t play a great game, but it still is no game they had business losing. The last two Big 10 teams literally ran over Illinois running the ball. Then we come in and Jonathan Taylor struggles to 4.6 yards a carry...the worst average by any starter has had against Illinois in Big 10 play. I mean....that doesn’t look good. Every other Big 10 team has lit up the Illinois defense, we nearly score 23 points. Eastern Michigan scored more against Illinois and UConn scored the same amount as us.

 

I think when your offense pretty much depends on the RB you run into problems. Taylor has been human three games, Northwestern, Michigan State, and Illinois. Michigan State the other runners ended up making it still a ground game slaughtering, but the other two the running game wasn’t very good.

 

In those two games the run game has struggled the ball was put into the hands of Jack Coan and the Northwestern game he wasn’t very good. The Illinois game he was pretty competent until that INT. I went back and checked just to make sure, but in my opinion that INT was a real bad throw/decision. It’s interesting both his INTs come in games where the run game didn’t do well. Not saying Coan isn’t the guy, but it seems he isn’t going to help us win games. You are basically just hoping he doesn’t turn the ball over. I get that is an improvement over Horni, but not sure that is saying much. Again, I have been pleased with Coan, but something I would like to see him do down the stretch is make a big impact on a game when the run game just isn’t working.

 

 

Well...4.6 YPC by Taylor isn't up to his standards, but it should be good enough in a tight game. If he can do that vs OSU, I'll be happy. We just need Coan to play smart.

 

But I agree with most of what you said. I just thought if you watched Illinios and you didn't know what they'd done vs the directional Michigan type schools, that looked like a good team. A ~8 win type team. One the Badgers should handle, but I was just really impressed with their athleticism and their gap integrity. They did not give up the big cutback lanes for the most part.

 

As for the Pick...it was a pick, so you're right by default. I'm just saying that watching it, I thought he looked poised and he put enough touch on it to get it over the flat defender and get the 1st down. Chryst had faith in him to finish Illinois and he didn't get it done. But that was like the opposite of watching many of Favre plays where you're yelling, "no, no....YES!" I thought he'd made the best decision. Again, just the results prove I was objectively wrong.

 

 

Finally, I'll say this, Twins keeps talking about Bostad on the OL. Maybe the OL group they've had just aren't that talented. Maybe we expect 3 star guys to become mid round picks in the NFL and I few get a few top recruits, we expect them to be dominant and that just hasn't worked out the last few years. It was especially evident with that Dieter/Dietzen/Edwards group that was hailed as the best OL UW had had for years(or would be) as they were all starting when they were young, but it became obvious...they're just overrated.

 

 

Now the Badgers do have a chance to build some big time momentum with Mertz. If he can come in and develop into elite CFB QB and the Badgers start throwing the ball 30 times a game because they have that type of talent, I think that could lead to them attacking more talent and that could lead to the WR'ers coming. But I also thought that Bart Houston was going to help propel the Badgers when they signed him and he ended up going down with knee injuries.

 

 

They've got some young guys on the OL and they've got a ton of talent in last years class and next years class. If they can build a truly dominant OL and Mertz can develop....maybe the get lucky and find themselves back in the hunt for a playoff.

[HiAndTight]

 

Every other aspect of the team should be better next year though.

 

LB ???

 

I fully agree that next year's team could be better all things considered. We will essentially lose 4 or 5 impact players, which is a really small hit. I even made a post earlier in the thread about the lack of seniors this year. However, Orr and Baun are going to be tough to replace and presumably get better. Those are two really good football players and make up half of the LB core.

 

I think it actually will be. Sandborn will be a JR and he's looking like he's going to be a dominant player. I think next year he takes a step to where Baun is right now.

 

Chenel is an absolute beast and looks like he's going to be a stud vs the run and as a pass rusher.

 

Cj Goetz is a guy that the staff is really high on from what I've heard. A guy who could play outside of play as a stack LB'er.

 

Noah Burks has really flashed, and then they have some really-really talented guys like Jaylan Franklin, a converted TE who picked UW over Michigan, plus incoming freshmen Nick Herbig...who will probably only get spot PT, but is a borderline top 100 prospect.

 

So I think they could be ever better, but it's College Football...you don't really know until they're out there.

 

But one thing that's going to help them out a TON if Loudermilk is back, Rand is back, their entire DL is back and their secondary is back. If Rand can break out a little bit next year, they should be able to generate even more pressure with that DL and take some pressure off Sandborn and Chanel as the top edge rushers.

 

I'm excited about that Franklin though. A 6'4 LB'er who may start out playing off the ball? He could make an enormous impact playing that hook zone with his athletic ability and his length. I don't know if that's definitely the plan for him, but I could see that being his best position.

[HiAndTight]

Exactly. THe biggest knock on PC coming in was being worried about recruiting due to his personality, but he's actually done much better at it than we thought coming in. This is the best recruiting run we've ever had. Everything is set up very well in that sense, they just have figure why the O isn't going yet. The D is playing all underclassmen from that good recruiting.

 

 

I don't really agree that the Offense isn't going yet. I think the offense has been fine, we've just had a very inconsistent QB. That's everything. If you don't have a dependable QB, you're not going to have a dependable offense. But it's got nothing to do with scheme or anything the HC can do. The Badgers and Hornibrook were pretty good two years ago when they lost just one game by 6 points.

 

The pound the ball...they've done that very well with Taylor. And they have recruited very well. They're in the midst of a recruiting "boon" relative to where they normally recruit. But I've been called a homer before by some on this board...and I think it might just come down to this, as much as I love UW, they just aren't ever going to be able to put the athletes on the field that the top tier teams will. Look at our recruiting classes. Our top DB's usually come out of Florida and we're certainly not getting the 4 and 5 star guys. We dip into New Jersey once in a while, but again, we're not getting the blue chip guys. We're recruiting mostly the mid-west and the talent just isn't there, and if it is, it's in the two biggest states, Penn and Ohio and one isn't really the mid-west, but both have blue chip programs there.

 

So maybe people need to adjust expectations. If you expect the Badgers to be a dominant program....you're gonna be upset when they lose to Iowa or Northwestern and then have some really ugly losses like the BYU loss(which I actually agree was a worse loss than the Illinios loss, point spread aside). Again, short of a Phil Knight coming in and helping us build up top tier facilities and fund the program....we're pretty much bumping up against the ceiling this program has.

 

What's more, given the choice between a Kirby Smart type coach...a guy who lets just assume he can bring the recruits he's gotten with him to Madison, we get him for...4-5 years. And if we do win a National Title or get into a few playoff's, he's going to be the guy who leaves for 'Bama when Saban leaves or he's the guy that A&M is going to pay 90 million to.

 

The way the Badgers athletic department is set up, we're never paying a coach 9.3 million like Dabo is getting paid. We're maxing out around 3 million and if we do that, we're not paying our assistants as much. So not only do I think Chryst is a good coach, I wouldn't trade him for any other coach in the country. Not Saban who is near the end, not Dabo who's in a perfect place and who will probably leave for his Alma mater(Alabama) if he ever leaves. Not even Lincoln Riley as he's also a short term coach who will use Wisconsin as a stepping stone. I'll take my chances with 15 years of Paul Chryst and see if we can't put together one of those lucky years like we ALMOST did when JJ and Russ Wilson just missed each other. Or the chances we MIGHT have if Graham Mertz ends up being as good as expected.

 

We're a consistent top 15 program with recruiting classes that usually rank on the high end at 35-ish and are often now in the top 40. Now we're looking at being ~20?

 

Look back at Taylor. He wasn't even the highest rated Taylor in the Badgers class. AJ Taylor was a higher rated recruit and we only had to beat out Rutgers for Johnathon Taylor. So we do so much more with our talent than so many programs. Part of that is being in one of the weakest divisions in all of CFB's conferences, but...I'm not gonna apologize for that.

 

The only way we consistently get into OSU territory is if we can start getting ESPN 300 skill players and put the type of speed on the field that OSU does AND keep doing everything else we do. And I just don't see top 10 corners consistently coming to UW or elite WR'ers. How many legit lock down corners have we had at UW? Fletcher and....Vincent? Nelson looked really good for a year, but we don't get many. We have young talent now, but I don't see future 1st rounders.

 

Ohio State is pumping out guys like Humphrey, Conley, Lattimore and they're coming back and producing more 1st the next year.

 

That Illinois loss hurt and stung. I love Wisconsin. It's been great for me. But on balance, I'm thrilled with where the program is and still excited about the rest of this season.

 

 

Agree with your overall view of the program and its level and expectations. Pretty much exactly my view.

 

I wouldn't agree that since PC has gotten here that the offense has been good enough though. You use 2017 as an example, again that was all D. The O was nothing special that year. You're right that it comes down to QB play, but again after 5 years that should be fixed. But yes that's also why the O has improved this year vs the last few, the QB is just clearly better. So trendign better and of course Coan and Mertz are great recruits. But if you rewind to what PC was doing here as OC (and what his Os did as HC in Pitt) vs what the O has been since he's been back and it's not back to that area. Besides the QB play as you said being poor with Horni I just don't see the dominating O-Line of the 09-Gordon type era. The running lanes and just overpowering teams no matter how many in the box was different then. This is where I keep coming back to Bostad going back to O line. Prior to ILL I was starting to think the pass blocking had gone way up this year vs the last few years, but they struggled bad that game so we'll see how they do vs OSU. I agree the O has gone up a tick this year vs the last few but I think there's clearly another level or two to go. Trending right direction, but I think some OLine improvement to our old standards is still easily attainable. My other O nitpick is that almost all passing comes from spread shotgun now so you're not taking advantage of the huge advantage our run game provides.

 

For the line, I think 14 is the right number. OSU has slaughtered everyone this year, you set that at 9.5 and 90% of the money is coming on OSU. I'd guess above 50% still comes on OSU even at 14. Put it up to 17 and I think vast majority go UW. I'm trying to pay for my trip by betting on OSU. That classic 'buy a win' type thing where if UW wins, great I'm happy. If OSU covers the 14 well at least I got my money. Not lookingn forward to the 10 pt loss that kills both ways though, haha. One thing is that since OSU has basically covered every game and half all year is that they're kind of due to not.

 

 

 

Yeah, it's pretty hard to argue that Bostad should be coaching the OL. I don't know if it's actually Rudolph or if it's the players as we just don't have a big enough sample size yet. You're talking about really this being the first group of players that Chryst has recruited and that's almost all his team. And like I said in another post, I just think the OL we've had the last few years have been overrated outside of Biadazz. And yes, I know that's not how his name is spelled. David Edwards was awful at tackle, Van Lannen is young and there's a good chance we have two new starters at tackle next year.

 

So I don't have enough to go on to know if that change is really needed or if it's just the players. That's the thing with CFB and why these big programs who cycle through coaches are so stupid. It takes 4-5 years for you to really put your stamp on a program and make it yours. You come in and you're coaching players you didn't recruit, then when you start recruiting guys, it obviously takes a while.

 

I will say this, I that '09 OL with Gordon had some games where they were not opening up lanes for him. That's why Gordon's the best back in Badger history in MY opinion. He was just so good at bouncing that outside when there was nothing there and hitting the HR. Taylor's great...in fact, I've started thinking the last few weeks, given how important it is for the Packers to have that consistent running game because so much of the offense operates off of that one zone stretch play, it'd be a good idea to make sure you've got a young stud and a two headed duo at RB. Jamal Williams is a nice back, but nothing special. He doesn't have great vision or great feet. He just hits the hole and runs hard. And that's fine in a power ISO scheme, but in the ZBS, you need guys who have great vision, who can find that cutback lane as that's what you're looking for.

 

But I think next year if PC's offense isn't really humming with a Sr at QB, a veteran OL(or a young OL that had some guys beat out vets) and a really-really talented set of skill players on the outside, then I'll start to get concerned, but they just haven't had a very talented offense the last few years outside of Taylor. Hornibrook showed he had a ton of potential at times, but the fact that he was so often so bad tells you he just did not have any of the intangibles needed at that position.

 

 

What is Bostad's current job? I forget why he left. Didn't he go to Tampa after he wasn't kept on by Anderson or something? I'm kinda embarrassed I don't even know what he's coaching or what he's doing right now. But I thought he was a bright up and coming coach. I'd think he's be the #2 voice on the offensive side of the ball or least influential with Randolph(of course I could just google his name and look it up). But I do kinda look at it like pitching and hitting coaches. You know sometimes when you've got a really good one(Derek Johnson) but it's not always easy to tell if the coach is doing poorly or if the players just aren't that good. That's where I am with Randolph. I just don't know....but again, wouldn't hurt to bring back one of the best coaches we've had in UW in the last 20 years to coach his natural position.

 

Speaking of which, how much credit does Gary Anderson get for bringing Dave Aranda in here and changing our defensive scheme? One we've stuck with since he's left. He really transformed the Badgers defensively from a solid, bend but don't break type defense to a hair on fire, attacking, aggressive style that has been the Badgers calling card for a while now.

 

Last I heard he was getting a record breaking contract from LSU, but I wonder if he gets a HC gig anywhere this year or in the near future. He's the type of guy I could see bringing in a big time offensive coordinator, being here for 4-5 years, maybe getting some top 10 recruiting classes and then bolting when Michigan offers to double his salary.

[tmwiese55]

Yea as much UW fans want to rip on Anderson he brought in that D system and Aranda. Without that who knows where they'd be now. That was huge for the future of the program.

 

I think what you're saying is really my point. All the guys Bostad got to the NFL were not special recruits either, heck probably less regarded than the guys you're saying just aren't good. You're trying to just say the players are bad, which of course could be the case we don't know. I'm saying how much of that could be chalked up to lesser OL coaching to not get them to the level we're accustomed. You're basically saying the OL is bad (relative to UW standards) but that the coach shouldn't be looked at as to why they're bad? I mean Rudolph has never coached OL before now so I don't think it's crazy to say a guy who was regarded the best OL coach in CFB would be better. He did play line though of course. All the guys playing the last few years were their guys they brought in and they never got them up to what we were accustomed. I gave breaks early on as they were forced to play so young, but by the end for them and the guys now not much has improved.

 

Also, Gordon wasn't here in 09. But if you go back to that 09-14ish time frame no matter who put back there was getting ridiculous YPC due to the line. Sure, Gordon did better as he was a freak but no matter who they put back would run easily. Even when that ridiculous line all got drafted the replacements (who didn't even make NFL) along with Gordon and a blah QB in Stave was able to run roughshod over 9 man boxes. Now, if you take out Taylor it cuts in half.

 

Also, Bostad is currently our MLB coach. We have him on our roster and we're not using him at what he's best at. Though he of course seems to be doing good with LBs too. But we're sitting here saying "man our OL just isn't quite up to what we're used to". The guy who got us used to that standard is sitting right there and we're not letting him do it. For all I know maybe he is sick of OL and wanted to do something new, I don't know. But I've also read that he does help after practice with OL and other times, so that's probably what he'd prefer to be doing. When he came available though they didn't have any spots available on offense. I've been assuming they've been waiting for Rudolph to get a HC job and then they'd move Bostad back to O and bring in an LB coach. But he didn't get any he interviewed for last year. Seems to me maybe they should try to force that to happen. But a 10-2 year would probably help him get a HC job.

[Samurai Bucky]

I think Joe Thomas might be available to coach

[tmwiese55]

In Urban Meyer's breakdown this week he basically got into exactly what I've been saying on passing out of the power formations, and what someone else brought up about lack of going deep. He showed examples of the normal 22 I formation sets where Cephus has 1 on 1 without the safety help so a deep play is wide open. Yet we run vs a stacked box. His point being that we have to make them pay for stacking the box and selling out to stop JT.

[nate82]

In Urban Meyer's breakdown this week he basically got into exactly what I've been saying on passing out of the power formations, and what someone else brought up about lack of going deep. He showed examples of the normal 22 I formation sets where Cephus has 1 on 1 without the safety help so a deep play is wide open. Yet we run vs a stacked box. His point being that we have to make them pay for stacking the box and selling out to stop JT.

 

It is mostly the Badgers abandoning the play action. I think this is a problem with the offensive line and their pass blocking not allowing enough time for the play action to work. Perfect example of this was the final 3rd down possession the Badgers had last week. They went with a pass play that was horribly called against a cover 2 defense which Illinois runs. The receiver didn't get deep enough into the cover 2 and it was picked off. If the Badgers instead would have ran play action on that play I think they hit for a big play and put the game out of reach.

 

The Badgers were running play action earlier in the season but it looks like the offensive line is just not allowing for the play action to develop as the QB is getting rushed far to quickly for the play action play to work correctly. I hope this weekend they play some more play action as I believe the Badgers can exploit Ohio State stacking the line against JT. Play action can also open up the running game as the safeties won't be able to play up as much and the linebackers will have to stay back. The Badgers don't have to hit the deep ball to be successful they just need to be able to run the play action more. Even a gain of 10-15 yards on play action can start to move those safeties back and make the linebackers play less aggressively at the line.

[HiAndTight]

Yea as much UW fans want to rip on Anderson he brought in that D system and Aranda. Without that who knows where they'd be now. That was huge for the future of the program.

 

I think what you're saying is really my point. All the guys Bostad got to the NFL were not special recruits either, heck probably less regarded than the guys you're saying just aren't good. You're trying to just say the players are bad, which of course could be the case we don't know. I'm saying how much of that could be chalked up to lesser OL coaching to not get them to the level we're accustomed. You're basically saying the OL is bad (relative to UW standards) but that the coach shouldn't be looked at as to why they're bad? I mean Rudolph has never coached OL before now so I don't think it's crazy to say a guy who was regarded the best OL coach in CFB would be better. He did play line though of course. All the guys playing the last few years were their guys they brought in and they never got them up to what we were accustomed. I gave breaks early on as they were forced to play so young, but by the end for them and the guys now not much has improved.

 

Also, Gordon wasn't here in 09. But if you go back to that 09-14ish time frame no matter who put back there was getting ridiculous YPC due to the line. Sure, Gordon did better as he was a freak but no matter who they put back would run easily. Even when that ridiculous line all got drafted the replacements (who didn't even make NFL) along with Gordon and a blah QB in Stave was able to run roughshod over 9 man boxes. Now, if you take out Taylor it cuts in half.

 

Also, Bostad is currently our MLB coach. We have him on our roster and we're not using him at what he's best at. Though he of course seems to be doing good with LBs too. But we're sitting here saying "man our OL just isn't quite up to what we're used to". The guy who got us used to that standard is sitting right there and we're not letting him do it. For all I know maybe he is sick of OL and wanted to do something new, I don't know. But I've also read that he does help after practice with OL and other times, so that's probably what he'd prefer to be doing. When he came available though they didn't have any spots available on offense. I've been assuming they've been waiting for Rudolph to get a HC job and then they'd move Bostad back to O and bring in an LB coach. But he didn't get any he interviewed for last year. Seems to me maybe they should try to force that to happen. But a 10-2 year would probably help him get a HC job.

 

 

No, that's not at all what I'm saying. I'm saying I don't know. How does anyone judge one way or the other? Is it Randolph's fault that David Edwards didn't become the 1st round pick that he was projected to be at one point, or was he(Edwards) just not that good. You need a larger sample size than how he does with one unit. I didn't say they shouldn't make Bostad the OL coach, I just don't know how you assign blame.

 

Unless you're with the program, I don't know how you say this position coach is better than another over a 3 year period where they have success..but now as much as you'd like. Also, is Bostad best as an OL coach? Same thing applies here. The LB'ers have done a great job this year. Maybe's just a great coach. Maybe having a former OL coach is helpful.

[HiAndTight]

In Urban Meyer's breakdown this week he basically got into exactly what I've been saying on passing out of the power formations, and what someone else brought up about lack of going deep. He showed examples of the normal 22 I formation sets where Cephus has 1 on 1 without the safety help so a deep play is wide open. Yet we run vs a stacked box. His point being that we have to make them pay for stacking the box and selling out to stop JT.

 

It is mostly the Badgers abandoning the play action. I think this is a problem with the offensive line and their pass blocking not allowing enough time for the play action to work. Perfect example of this was the final 3rd down possession the Badgers had last week. They went with a pass play that was horribly called against a cover 2 defense which Illinois runs. The receiver didn't get deep enough into the cover 2 and it was picked off. If the Badgers instead would have ran play action on that play I think they hit for a big play and put the game out of reach.

 

The Badgers were running play action earlier in the season but it looks like the offensive line is just not allowing for the play action to develop as the QB is getting rushed far to quickly for the play action play to work correctly. I hope this weekend they play some more play action as I believe the Badgers can exploit Ohio State stacking the line against JT. Play action can also open up the running game as the safeties won't be able to play up as much and the linebackers will have to stay back. The Badgers don't have to hit the deep ball to be successful they just need to be able to run the play action more. Even a gain of 10-15 yards on play action can start to move those safeties back and make the linebackers play less aggressively at the line.

 

 

Don't think Illinois was in cover 2 on that play. Can't see the whole field, but it certainly didn't look like Cover 2.

[nate82]

It was definitely cover 2 as the outside linebacker covered the seam hook. It was the perfect defense against the play that was called. The linebacker was in the throwing lane of the QB.

 

That last play should have been a run play instead of a pass.

[owbc]

Wisconsin 24

OSU 21

 

Let’s do it!

[JosephC]

I normally will not turn off a Badger game, even if they are getting whipped I'll usually stick with it to see some of the freshman play later in the game. But I still have such a bitter taste in my mouth from last week, I don't think I'll make it through the second quarter unless they keep it close.

 

Hate to say it, but I fully expect to see Wisconsin get run right off the field. Hopefully Ohio State are going in a bit cocky after last week's results, if they end up bringing their A-game then they should have no problem.

[MrTPlush]

I love our defense, but the athleticism of Ohio State could make them look real silly. They need a pass rush and be able to contain the QB from running. That’s the start of having a chance. If not I think our DBs give up some real big plays. We simply aren’t going to win a shootout so they better limit possessions.

 

I will go 38-14 Ohio State, hope I am wrong though. I think they will look more hungover after the rough loss vs. hungry.

[young guns]

Bad weather should play I to our favor I would think. Was kinda hoping we would go for it on 4th there.

[MrTPlush]

Bad weather should play I to our favor I would think. Was kinda hoping we would go for it on 4th there.

 

I thought that for a second, but really would have been a horrid decision. At best you got first down in your own territory...you miss it and might as well pack the bags to go home.

 

Gotta believe in the defense to start.

[yourout]

Without help Bucky is going to struggle to score.

[yourout]

It's going to be a long day if the OLine doesn't pick up its play.

[young guns]

Bad weather should play I to our favor I would think. Was kinda hoping we would go for it on 4th there.

 

I thought that for a second, but really would have been a horrid decision. At best you got first down in your own territory...you miss it and might as well pack the bags to go home.

 

Gotta believe in the defense to start.

Yeah, but litterly exactly the same scenario against Michigan and we went for it. Punting was probably the right choice, but less fun.

[MrTPlush]

Defense needs to give this offense a short field. Not confident they are going to string many 80+ yard drives together.

 

Annnnd they just couldn’t make it happen there. Bummer.

[yourout]

The Rain is definitely a plus for Bucky.

[MadThinker88]

Who has the wind behind them will be a factor.

Wisconsin had it for Q1. Now the Buckeyes have it for Q2.