what i learned about wisc.

[fletcher]

first is that i had their off overrated. fresno is not that good of a team. I knew wisc. would be below avg deff for a big ten team but thought off would be able to score way more then they did and they had their chances and lots of them but couldnot put the ball in the end zone but twice.

Fresno was what i expected the off is short quick passes, not hard to do that,will have trouble if they get in 3rd and long this year.

if wisc is giveing points next saturday to unlv they will-not cover have watched unlv all fall and just as big if not bigger up front and way more speed on both sides of the ball. unlv wins this game out right . thomas will play like he did his first year people were all over him here last year but the guy had shoulder surgery 1 month before season and never was healed all year thats why he slung the ball because he couldnot get arm up high enough to go over the top. well he is throwing darts this year i have seen them of 12 times. 3 deep in backfield and the heat will just tear the badgers up. i gave to much respect to badgers off and a over rated qb. it won't happen next week for them if they look like they did tonight.

they will not out muscle unlv upfront and get 7-8 yards per gain and it will be in the 100 + range for a 5:45 kick off and their bench will be in the sun till about halftime,and it just beats down on that side of the field till it sets behind the mountains.

way over rated by me thought they had a qb who could do it but what i found out it was who he had catching the ball for him last year . looked gun shy and poor reads and held on to ball much longer then he should of. then he would push the ball or aim it was not cutting it loose.

fresno will not win the wac bosie state will watch for them.

mags enjoy the trip out here for the game because i don't think the game will be enjoyable for the fans making the trip after what i saw tonight.

 

[mw]

thanks for the insights

 

[TCSN]

I agree with you on Wisconsin which is one of the major reasons I bet against them. You have to admit though Grady has some grit to him, think he will only get better. The one thing I would like to see though is he change his elevation of his passes as he will just have pass after pass batted down when people catch on.

 

[Nickelback]

Fletch,

Respect your opinion and will look closely at the UNLV/Wisky line when it comes out.

However, can you tell me what you think about those who say the greatest improvement by a team is between their first and second game? If this is normally the case, then we should expect Bollinger to figure out what he's doing wrong. . . or at least improve on his performance tonight. To me, it looked like he was simply making poor choices all around. . . especially with holding the damn ball too long instead of getting rid of it when recognizing his receivers are all covered. Then of course when he did throw the ball, most of the time it was way off.

Anyways, your thoughts on this?

 

[fletcher]

i don't think he has the players around him to do it,i played them early this week at 7, i really thought they would move the ball in the air much better. if your not ready buy now one week is not going to make a difference in the skill positions,that's something that should of been done from spring to fall.

if it was just 1 thing or two i would say yes but he was poor in most parts of the game even his feet were slow when he ran,and in the pocket he had happy feet nothing was a firm plant and throw stright forward ball except the pass he stuck into the chest of the te down on the goal line on 3rd and 8.

they kid from fresno will improve and is good for his age but his off is what will help him out it is set to work as long as you get rid of the ball fast.

i don't buy into the first week 2nd week stuff,as a coach and someone who has been around enough fb coaches also they have to many holes and will be a mid pack team in the big ten. if they were any type of team they would of came out and spanked fresno for what happened last year. so i say they lack the talent all around to be a threat in the big 10 need another year and people who are not afraid to catch the ball in the middle,thats why you had dropped balls because wide-outs were more worried about being hit then holding onto the ball and in college or higher that won't cut it being gun shy,its catch the ball and take you licks and that is something you can't teach it just happens. you cannot out coach fear.

 

[hellah10]

I liked UNLV even before the season started...hell UNLV is gonna be one of my coattail teams...them and Central Michigan at least

 

[fletcher]

also you can not handicapp anticapited improvement it must be proven. if you were a team playing them next as unlv you watch the tape and prepair for what you saw not what you think they will improve on, in coaching adjustments are made in the game in all sports thats why you have advance scouts and not anticapited improvement scouts.

handicapping is nothing more then being an advance scout you look for the same thing as you would in scouting and see where and who has the edge and why,then its up to the teams and other factors once games has started to how your results come out.

 

[hellah10]

yea well these fawking players need to hold on to the damn ball

good point though fletch...more or less breaking down the game as if your a coach yourself...well put

 

[ChuckyTheGoat]

I follow Wisky closer than any other college team. I usually have pretty insights on them. I'm a Badger fan, but I have no qualms about being on or against em. It's all about the Benjamins.

I already took UNLV(+6) vs Wis. Extra week off a plus for UNLV as well. Also, I think I'd take a look at SDSt vs Fresno next week if the pts are generous.

Badger comments:
* the offensive line was supposed to be stellar, equal to the best Wisky lines that have produced many good pros. They should have had the edge vs a WAC front 7 tonite. But that wasn't really the case. Burley outquicked Ben Johnson a few times. After 1 gm, I have to say the OLine is overrated.
* they missed Evans more than I thought. After tonite, my opinion of Evans goes even higher. I knew he was a gamebreaker, but thought Wisky could methodically move the ball against a WAC defense. Thought Charles could step up, but he's apparently been dinged up much of preseason.
* Bollinger is a spas. He has some skills, but it's almost like all the parts around him have to be functioning perfectly for him to look good. When they had Dayne's power running and threats at WR like Chambers, the field opened wide up and Brooks' scrambles worked. His read progression definitely stops at about #2. Alvarez is an old school guy, and I'm sure he's pounded into Brooks head: "No bad decisions. No turnovers. Don't lose the gm." The result is leaving the pocket prematurely too often. Runs himself into sacks and short gains.
* Special teams are a mess. 8-yard pooch off fake FG. FG-kicking is still nervous. They were supposed to have JUCO Campbell, who was better than Allen. Not sure what happened to Campbell, but Allen is shaky at best. Consider this for a second: last yr vs PennSt, Wisconsin didn't punt but only scored 18 pts. Mainly b/c of hideous FG kicking.
* Figured the defense to be subpar. Can't read too much from tonite's gm imo. Fresno's two second half TDs were 20-yd drives, so Fresno didn't have many total yds tonite. But Fresno didn't present many options after Berrien went out. No rushing gm, and Grady is only confident in the short passing gm at this stage.

GL, boys.

 

[tennessee tout]

Really appreciate the effort you put into writeups Fletcher. I too was on Wisconsin but didn't get to see the game so a good write up along with looking at stats gives me a better overview of what really happened. Thanks for posting and keep up the good work. Its a long grind and were just beginning.

 

[bjfinste]

Chucky,

Campbell was the guy who lined up to take the first field goal but tried that awful pooch kick. Allen beat out Campbell for FG duties during practice this week. He was the kicker in that Penn State game last season that you mentioned in your post. After his first kick today I thought we'd see a replay of that game but he seemed to settle down a little bit after that. Not many kickers shank a potential game winner in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, but at least he made good on his second try. Still a very shaky position for the Badgers right now.

 

[ChuckyTheGoat]

ok, thx, BJ. That's gonna be a troublespot for Wisky. Barry lost his mind after Allen shanked that first FG, dropped a nice F-bomb on cue.

Special tms were weak last yr. Was a crying shame that they lost to Michigan. Flat out beat em on both sides of the ball, but a missed chip shot FG and a ridiculous punt hitting a blocker in the leg cost em that win.

 

[Goiing Gone]

That is a typical 1st gm for a Wis,Mich,OhSt,etc Big ten team w your exceptions of purdue,Minn,NW,etc, That is being RUN until the cows come home and we will be ahead when the buzzer ringsRO190 tried to talk me out of playing any side on this gm and from now on we will only post Gms we both agree on..

PRO & I both are on Wis LG vs Unlv,maybe we saw a different gm, the only problem we detected was lack of containment with the DE using speed on the stunts and missing the audibles for slants & draws:it was obvious Fresno was stacking the line 1st count here come the OLB filling the GAPS and boom WTF>>>Big AL was going to have the BIG ONE on the sideline. White better get his ass in line and , You have 2 OLB snorting in your face and its Power left , Power Right WTF, I believed that Wis would punish them with the run , but when they stack the line and have speed to stop bootlegs guess what USE The TE, nowhere to be found last night and as I noted ST would be the worry point and Boom it bit me : Talk about overrated; Thomas sucks Period enough said::



Goiing/PRO::
Wis -5:{6u}See ya in VEGAS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

CFB:0-1{-5u}

 

[djv]

The play calling drove me nuts for wisky. Follow the tight end in motion and you find the running back. If A D was not as good as he is. Chit a average back would have got about 50 yrds. Talk about almost given the play away. Great recivers for Wisky 10 dropped balls. Not sure what to think.
And what's with the clock. I know when you go out of bounds or get a first down clock stops. But in college ball once marked for play the clock starts. Man that clock at least one shown on TV. Many times never started to the play started. I started keeping track. I believe at least a full minute was added to this game easy. That is not official because the one on TV is not. But it is to be very close if not exact. One play the running back for FR ST had ball in hand and then the clock stated. Talk about slow.
Made us under players wet our pants.