2009 Badgers better or worse than 2008?

[Go Gophers Rah]

I think most of us would agree that the 2009 Gophers are better than or equal to the talent/ability of the Gophers' team of a year ago.

What are people's thoughts on the 2009 Badgers compared to their 2008 squad (I invite Wisconsin fans to chime in too). At this point last year, they had beaten Akron (bad team), Marshall (bad team) and Fresno State (ended up w/ a 7-6 record) and then had a bye week followed by a monumental collapse against Michigan (we know something about those too).

At that time they were playing a bit of QB roullette.

I feel fairly certain that they are improved on offense and (although no-one saw it coming) I think Tolzien is probably a pretty good QB. I have no idea on how their defense this year compares to last year.

A lot of times people pose questions as an excuse to provide their own answers. That is not the case here, I am really curious what people think.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[TAW]

From a pure "talent" level, I think the team is about equal to last year. The QB position is a big plus, but we lost some at other positions. The biggest difference seems to be the attitude of the team. They seem more disciplined and team-oriented. They also seem to be having fun with it all. Most attribute this to leadership, either from teammates or coaches.

I can say from a fan's viewpoint, this team has been very fun to watch.

 

[wait!what?]

No drop off at TE with Graham in for Beckum. A. Weber might have time for some deep passes tho cuz the Badger front four gave allowed MSU plenty of time prior to the turnovers.

with 4 games under the belt these coaches should know what to expect....hopefully they know when.


And -Even though Reusse will write an article about him being the one that got away...... Gilreath is non factor.

 

[Schnauzer]

I haven't seen as much Wisconsin play as I would have liked. But, the win over MSU impressed me. I too will be curious to hear what the visitors to this board think of their team.

For the Gophers... I feel they are clearly improved. I was worried about D-line and this area has turned out to actually be a relative strength. Same with linebackers although this hasn't been as big of a surprise for me. D-backs feel about the same compared to last year. Overall better with the returning players but the same overall because the loss of TB hurts.

Also... I give the intangibles to the Gophers because of the way the last two games went down coupled with the fact this team has managed to gut out wins in the same kind of games they used to fade badly in when things started to go wrong. That says nothing about Wisconsin but if overall things are equal, that is one big ingredient that appears to be different about the Gophers compared to the past.

 

[PlayHosea]

I honestly feel that this is the year that the tide turns. Decker won't be the star in this game. Stoudemire and Gray are going to have major, major impacts and the Badgers aren't going to have answers for them.

 

[Schnauzer]

I honestly feel that this is the year that the tide turns. Decker won't be the star in this game. Stoudemire and Gray are going to have major, major impacts and the Badgers aren't going to have answers for them.

I like the way early on Brewster said Gray will be seeing more and more action and that is exactly what has happened. With each passing week he is getting to be a bigger factor.

 

[GVBadger]

No drop off at TE with Graham in for Beckum. A. Weber might have time for some deep passes tho cuz the Badger front four gave allowed MSU plenty of time prior to the turnovers.

with 4 games under the belt these coaches should know what to expect....hopefully they know when.


And -Even though Reusse will write an article about him being the one that got away...... Gilreath is non factor.

Gilreath is a nice player. Injuries have really slowed him down. Does not have the explosion he had as a freshman. He has been passed on the depth chart at receiver.

For receivers from Minnesota, Isaac Anderson is a difference maker. Has made a ton of big plays already this year.

 

[ulfr]

Gilreath is a nice player. Injuries have really slowed him down. Does not have the explosion he had as a freshman. He has been passed on the depth chart at receiver.

For receivers from Minnesota, Isaac Anderson is a difference maker. Has made a ton of big plays already this year.

I think David probably should have considered a red shirt after his off-season surgeries. I work with his brother, and know he stubbornly refused to consider a red shirt going into camp and now is struggling somewhat.

That being said I cannot wait to get some water-cooler redemption on Monday...

 

[grunkiejr]

IMO the QB is the big difference in the Wisconsin offense. Tolzien is much better than Evridge or Sherrer were last year. The WR's have also shown some maturation and they have some legitimate threats outside as well as in the middle with Graham. Where I think Wisconsin's offense isn't as good as last year is along the OL. They've suffered some injuries there so they are probably better than they have looked but when I watched the game against Fresno State the OL really struggled to get to the second level and block the LB's. The one play they did a good job of getting to the second level Clay took it for a 70+ yard touchdown but outside of that play he was averaging ~2 yds per carry.

On defense I think Wisconsin has good DE's but I'm not sold on the DT's. I think a good OL (I'm not sure if we're good enough to do this) is going to be able to expose this weakness and run right down their throat. Wisconsin hasn't faced a particularly good running team yet so nobody has exposed it and nobody is getting on to the LB's which is making them look better than they actually are. I'm blanking on the freshman but he looks like a good athlete at LB but he gets himself out of position at time and a little misdirection should be successful against him. The secondary looks like middle of the Big Ten caliber sp we should be able to throw on them.

 

[GVBadger]

I think David probably should have considered a red shirt after his off-season surgeries. I work with his brother, and know he stubbornly refused to consider a red shirt going into camp and now is struggling somewhat.

That being said I cannot wait to get some water-cooler redemption on Monday...

He seems like a great kid and the injury stuff came out late in camp. He looks like a different player. He can still make plays, but the punt returner you saw in the Dome as a freshman is not there.

 

[Schnoodler]

Nobody knows how good Wiscy is. I think we'll know more Saturday, we're definitely better.

 

[Weisbrod]

The Badgers are a mystery. They play the weakest nonconference schedule of any Big Ten team.

 

[Jwill535]

Fresno State was a very good running team. The Badger run defense seems to be all or nothing or Barry Sanders like. They will stop the runner with 0-3 yrd gains for 5-6 plays then give up a big run. Mcfadden(WLB) and St. Jean(MLB) tend to over flow to running plays and get caught up in the wash which contributes to the occasional long runs. Mike Taylor(SLB) is the play maker on running plays. The DTs are playmakers at all and basically are just there to stand up blockers and hold the line. You will see very little penetration by the DTs. Some feel it is talent and other feel that the staff is just having them stand the line and wait for the runner.

I have only seen a few Gopher games this year, mostly flipping between games. I was just wondering if Weber has regressed as a passer? From the little I have seen of him, he seems to be less acurate as a drop back passer but a better passer on the move. Would that be a fair assesment?

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

The biggest difference seems to be the attitude of the team. They seem more disciplined and team-oriented. They also seem to be having fun with it all. Most attribute this to leadership, either from teammates or coaches.

I can say from a fan's viewpoint, this team has been very fun to watch.

No disrespect intended, but I think most of these comments could be said of any team in the country, in just about any sport, of a team that hasn't lost a game yet.

Essentially, when things are going well and you haven't faced a great deal of adversity, team chemistry always seems to be just outstanding, for any team, any sport.

I have no idea who's going to win Saturday's game or what the long-term direction of either program will be, but I'm still convinced there are very few people that Gopher fans would rather have at the helm of Wisky than B. Bielema (with the possible exception of Al Davis).

This should be a very entertaining game, no doubt about it. I'm not crazy about the Gophers playing without their starting DE but it is what it is.

 

[Ogie Ogilthorpe]

I have only seen a few Gopher games this year, mostly flipping between games. I was just wondering if Weber has regressed as a passer? From the little I have seen of him, he seems to be less acurate as a drop back passer but a better passer on the move. Would that be a fair assesment?

Pretty good observation. I think it's moreso that when he's on the move, he's essentially bought himself more time, and receivers are just that much more open. Makes it look like he's a lot more accurate than he really is. I think he's much, much better off out of the pocket, but that's just me.

 

[Jwill535]

That's what I thought. It seems with the more restrictive offense(in terms of movement) he looks more anxious and his throws are way off. Like some athletes, it seems when he has time to think(standing in the pocket) he isnt as good as when he is just reacting(out of the pocket).

 

[Schnoodler]

I think you got it Jwill. When this happens tho, it's really a matter of time before the drop back check down progressions become instinctual and then you get a beast. I'm thinking in about 3 and a half days.

 

[GVBadger]

No disrespect intended, but I think most of these comments could be said of any team in the country, in just about any sport, of a team that hasn't lost a game yet.

Essentially, when things are going well and you haven't faced a great deal of adversity, team chemistry always seems to be just outstanding, for any team, any sport.

Generally I think that is true. But when you have the kind of year the Badgers had last year and you hear things from inside the program about chemistry and attitude issues, I think there is a lot to it.

They have faced a tremendous amount of adversity this year. They had two fifth year seniors suspended for the year early in fall camp. They lost two offensive lineman for the entire fall camp and the first three games of the season. One of them is still not back. They then lost the backup center in game 2. They have had a makeshift line all year that is finally coming together. They then had to deal with a flu outbreak before the Fresno game where up to 30 players were ill and missed some or all of practice the week before, with a lot of them playing sick.

Overcoming adversity has been one of this teams best attributes this year. That and a QB playing at a very high level and some other very good players.

 

[Schnoodler]

Other than that they suck.

 

[GVBadger]

I have no idea who is going to win either, though I have a pretty good idea. After this year, I think you may change your opinion of Bielema. You may not like him, but he is 32-11 and this year looks very good. Next year we will return 18 starters and two specialists. Next year looks even better.

I feel the same way about Brewster. I am thrilled he is coaching the Gophers. Maybe I will be proven wrong this year.

That is why they play the games.

Can't wait to see the new stadium Saturday.

 

[grunkiejr]

That's what I thought. It seems with the more restrictive offense(in terms of movement) he looks more anxious and his throws are way off. Like some athletes, it seems when he has time to think(standing in the pocket) he isnt as good as when he is just reacting(out of the pocket).

I would say that Weber has been more sporadic than you expect from a 3rd year junior. At times he has thrown inaccurately on timing routes. That was especially true in the first game against Syracuse when he didn't seem like he could hit the broad side of a barn until the 4th quarter when there was pressure on him. On the final drive he consistently threw accurately and converted a number of important 3rd down conversions. He has seemed to have gotten better since that game and I can't remember him having the same problem against Northwestern.

And on your other point, I don't think Fresno State is a very good team. Their QB is horse crap. He threw accurately and with touch for the most part but he had no arm. That interception he threw in overtime should have been a touchdown. The WR had 5 yards on the safety but the QB underthrew him and had no zip on the ball which allowed Maragos to make the recovery. I can't think of a single QB in the Big Ten that doesn't have the arm strength to make that throw.

 

[wait!what?]

I hope A. Weber doesn't pass up running the ball into the end zone like Cousins did for MSU in the 1st half vs Wisconsin. 53 might have caught him before the line but still would have been on the goal line.