Badger Football 2020 (Latest- Headed to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl (seriously)

[CheeseheadInQC]

Am I crazy for thinking Northwestern is the No. 2 team in the West right now? I know Maryland is the conference's worst team this year, but Northwestern's biggest issue last year was horrific QB play, and Ramsey at least offers a level of competence they didn't have previously. The Purdue-Iowa game was just ugly, and I'm not buying Michigan's offense being that much improved to justify Minnesota's defensive showing in that game.

[stoutdude04]

Am I crazy for thinking Northwestern is the No. 2 team in the West right now? I know Maryland is the conference's worst team this year, but Northwestern's biggest issue last year was horrific QB play, and Ramsey at least offers a level of competence they didn't have previously. The Purdue-Iowa game was just ugly, and I'm not buying Michigan's offense being that much improved to justify Minnesota's defensive showing in that game.

 

To be fair to Minnesota, they had no punter/kick off man, so Michigan had incredible field position all day.

[jjgott]

Jeff Potrykus

@jaypo1961

 

Apologies for the delay in answering questions from #Badgers fans about Graham Mertz testing positive for COVID-19. Have been working on the story for much of the day but we wanted to be certain. One positive test. Has to have a second test to confirm.

 

[stoutdude04]

Ugh.

[young guns]

Jeff Potrykus

@jaypo1961

 

Apologies for the delay in answering questions from #Badgers fans about Graham Mertz testing positive for COVID-19. Have been working on the story for much of the day but we wanted to be certain. One positive test. Has to have a second test to confirm.

 

[PeaveyFury]

I think lost in all of the social media glee about Mertz taking over is that the Badgers are a positive COVID test away from Chase Wolf starting 2-3 games for them this year per Big Ten protocols....

 

Called that.

[stoutdude04]

I think lost in all of the social media glee about Mertz taking over is that the Badgers are a positive COVID test away from Chase Wolf starting 2-3 games for them this year per Big Ten protocols....

 

Called that.

 

Yep. Out 21 days. What a crap rule though.

[yourout]

Hopefully just a false positiv. if not ...the next question is how many other players for the Badgers and Illinois end up with it?

[pacopete4]

Has the 2nd test come back yet?

[homer]

Has the 2nd test come back yet?

 

No

[owbc]

We kind of knew that avoiding COVID was the key to winning college football this year. It's kind of a joke, I'm having trouble taking it seriously. Really wish they would have stuck with the plan to play in the spring.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

We kind of knew that avoiding COVID was the key to winning college football this year. It's kind of a joke, I'm having trouble taking it seriously. Really wish they would have stuck with the plan to play in the spring.

 

Sure would be nice to be Alabama right now. If one of your stars gets COVID, or suffers a season-ending injury like Waddle did over the weekend, you just plug in the 5-star sitting being him, or the 5-star sitting behind that guy. That team is so deep, it's really incredible. I don't know why so many star recruits end up going to a place where there's a solid chance they may never leave the bench.

[PeaveyFury]

Early, unverified reports that Chase Wolf also did not practice today, so that’s really great.

[stoutdude04]

Early, unverified reports that Chase Wolf also did not practice today, so that’s really great.

 

Groshek time!

[adambr2]

We kind of knew that avoiding COVID was the key to winning college football this year. It's kind of a joke, I'm having trouble taking it seriously. Really wish they would have stuck with the plan to play in the spring.

 

Sure would be nice to be Alabama right now. If one of your stars gets COVID, or suffers a season-ending injury like Waddle did over the weekend, you just plug in the 5-star sitting being him, or the 5-star sitting behind that guy. That team is so deep, it's really incredible. I don't know why so many star recruits end up going to a place where there's a solid chance they may never leave the bench.

 

Why do so many 4 star recruits choose to go to places like Alabama and OSU and Clemson and be just another name on the bench in a sea of stars rather than come somewhere like UW where they could be one of the best players on the team, get to start playing as freshmen and really put themselves on the map while still playing for a contending program?

 

I genuinely want to understand why they choose that path.

[PinaMadness]

It's Brucie's time to shine!

[madbad2000]

Well there is the obvious in that you're a part of a winning team and have top notch facilities, training and treatment. Throw in the idea of competition raises all boats. Also take into account that you only really need one year to play and likely set yourself up for a draft day windfall based on your school and conference. If you sit for a year or two, you can soak up two years and transfer as an instant starter nearly anywhere else. So take the big ticket gamble and still fall back on a great situation if you don't make it to legendary status with the blue bloods.

 

You can also probably follow the trails of rumors and some conjecture in that you make more money playing at these schools. I'm living in the heart of SEC country right now and I think that is pretty much understood by most people following the game closely. Whether that is in the rumored payments categories or through other avenues on the back end, it seems to be prevalent. If you struggle at academics, there are always ways to help that along too. That is not to say that it only happens at these named schools, but the true 4 and 5 star factories definitely deliver for their athletes on all levels and HS kids understand that.

 

I would love to see some more parity in college football, but I don't think those influencing the money really want that.

[LouisEly]

It's Brucie's time to shine!

Nah... here comes the Boom!

[LouisEly]

Early, unverified reports that Chase Wolf also did not practice today, so that’s really great.

Apparently UW has had many false positives this year, so we can only hope that at least one of Mertz or Wolf (preferably the former) is also one of those.

[MrTPlush]

Vanden Boom would certainly be the next man up...after that I would presume Groshek since he at least has a lot of experience with the offensive etc.

 

The only other QB on the roster is a freshman, so I doubt they would put him in this early. He is an absolute tank at 6’8” though.

[nate82]

Confirmed out for 3-weeks

 

Source: Graham Mertz's second COVID-19 test comes back positive after breakout start, will be sidelined for 21 days

 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/wisconsin-qb-graham-mertz-tests-positive-covid-19-a-second-time-after-breakout-start-will-be-out-for-21-days/

[homer]

Darn. Bucky might only win by 10 now.

[tmwiese55]

Can definitely still win with Vandenboom this week. But that Michigan game will likely be an L or at the least a very uphill battle.

[owbc]

We'll see if this is a CFP-caliber defense or not, that's for sure.

[adambr2]

Is there a reason behind this silly 21 day requirement, or is it just overcompensation for a poorly planned season in which the B10 canceled for good reason and then just changed course when no one else followed despite the pandemic improving in no way during that stretch of time?