Official Post-game Thread: Badgers 20, Gophers 7

Sid Hartman

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>Defense showed up and held their own...if anyone would have said we hold them to 20 points we would have taken that any day of the week.

>Lack of skill position players is alarming on offense...Kill needs to to start recruiting some WR's that can first catch the ball but actually make someone miss

>Limegrover had his worst game of the season...large gap in talent so you need to show them something they haven't seen. Would argue offense was as vanilla as it has been all season. The 4th down play to Cobb is inexcusable to not have Williams on the field to at least be a decoy
 

***WISCONSIN POST-GAME THOUGHTS THREAD***

Not a completely discouraging loss... our Defense held a very good Wiscy Offense to 20 points which is the lowest they've been held this Season...

Defense played VERY good... Offense wasn't terrible but we had too many missed opportunities.

Bottom Line I think we're such a better team then what we field sometimes & today seemed like a game we could've won with a few bounces. Kinda felt like watching the Iowa game.

For a team that was supposed to blow us out & have so much more talent then us they looked very average & our Defense played very well. A few kinks to work out on the Offense but overall not disappointed with today's loss...
 

Lack of skill position players is alarming on offense...Kill needs to to start recruiting some WR's that can first catch the ball but actually make someone miss

No McDonald, no Devin Crawford-Tufts and now no Engel. Like the Iowa game, if you stuff our run, they cannot move the ball consistently.
 

Absolutely. Can't hang your head too much. The defense played hard the entire game. Things are looking up for this squad.
 

Not a completely discouraging loss... our Defense held a very good Wiscy Offense to 20 points which is the lowest they've been held this Season...

Defense played VERY good... Offense wasn't terrible but we had too many missed opportunities.

Bottom Line I think we're such a better team then what we field sometimes & today seemed like a game we could've won with a few bounces. Kinda felt like watching the Iowa game.

For a team that was supposed to blow us out & have so much more talent then us they looked very average & our Defense played very well. A few kinks to work out on the Offense but overall not disappointed with today's loss...

I agree for the most part.
 


A few kinks to work out on the Offense but overall not disappointed with today's loss...

Its a talent issue not a scheme one. No game-breakers on offense. Really hard to move the ball on a good defense when you cannot gain chunks of yards on one play. Jerry needs to recruit some.
 

Our wideouts looked like the freshman they are. Defense played well today, youthful mistakes cost us today, mark my words we will win at Camp Randall next year. I've always believed we would win the axe back in Madtown, and with everyone coming back and all the guys they lose, to go along with the progress we've made this year, next year is our time.
 

>Defense showed up and held their own...if anyone would have said we hold them to 20 points we would have taken that any day of the week.

>Lack of skill position players is alarming on offense...Kill needs to to start recruiting some WR's that can first catch the ball but actually make someone miss

>Limegrover had his worst game of the season...large gap in talent so you need to show them something they haven't seen. Would argue offense was as vanilla as it has been all season. The 4th down play to Cobb is inexcusable to not have Williams on the field to at least be a decoy

No way, Limegrover was fine. Dropped passes were the reason we lost. If we execute we win.

When you are not good you must execute well period. Adding complexity does nothing to achieve that end. Keep it as simple and give yourself a chance... it's why we are where we are this season.

Defense was great but for the pass interference(s) in the end zone. A few more plays made on O and the defense probably does even better.
 

I was with you until the third point. What do you suggest against a fundamentally sound, gap responsible defense?
 



>Defense showed up and held their own...if anyone would have said we hold them to 20 points we would have taken that any day of the week.

>Lack of skill position players is alarming on offense...Kill needs to to start recruiting some WR's that can first catch the ball but actually make someone miss

>Limegrover had his worst game of the season...large gap in talent so you need to show them something they haven't seen. Would argue offense was as vanilla as it has been all season. The 4th down play to Cobb is inexcusable to not have Williams on the field to at least be a decoy

I agree. But I think the WRs we have will develop a lot more. Remember, Jones, Wolitarksy, and Williams are all freshman. You can't expect them to make all of those plays. Engel is our best receiver this year, and prior to this year he hadn't made much of an impact. They can turn things around and develop awfully quickly.
 

Its a talent issue not a scheme one. No game-breakers on offense. Really hard to move the ball on a good defense when you cannot gain chunks of yards on one play. Jerry needs to recruit some.

Very true... the playcalling was solid today but the execution wasn't in our favor much...
 

The turning point in the game was the Nelson fumble...if we at minimum punt in that situation it might have been a different game.

Our defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage outside of 2 long White runs
 

Old-time Big 10 football. One good team was going to lose and today the Badgers made more plays. Takes nothing away from what we've accomplished. In fact, if you accept the oft expressed opinion that Badgers are underrated then it means we're headed in the right direction and not far off.
 



I was with you until the third point. What do you suggest against a fundamentally sound, gap responsible defense?

If you are going to run that play you win it on 3rd down...like you said against a fundamentally sound defense you can't expect to make a 7yard run after the catch to get first down on 4th down
 

Wisconsin is better than we are at the skilled positions (by quite a bit) and has one of the better defenses in college football this year.

I thought our defense played very well. Outside of White's early run, we seemed to prevent the big play. Conditions perhaps contributed to some of Wisconsin's inability to consistently make big plays, but Claeys really dials it up and it worked today.

Jones, Williams, and Wolitarsky are all first-year guys, but I thought the problems in the passing game stemmed more from Nelson sailing the ball again (which I thought was his problem earlier in the year).

A break here or there and it could have been a different result (but a break here or there for the Badgers and it could have been a blow-out).

We can play better, but I thought we acquitted ourselves well today. We didn't get physically manhandled and gave out as good as we got.
 

I agree. But I think the WRs we have will develop a lot more. Remember, Jones, Wolitarksy, and Williams are all freshman. You can't expect them to make all of those plays. Engel is our best receiver this year, and prior to this year he hadn't made much of an impact. They can turn things around and develop awfully quickly.

Is Harribson in the dog house that much that he can't even sniff the field? Last year before the start of the season they were talking him up as being one of the best receivers we had in some time
 

In agreement: the defense played well enough to win, but the offense was wanting (Nelson overthrowing receivers all day), and frankly I'd like to have seen Leidner at some point. But Badgers are a senior team with a 20-year winning record and excellent new coaches. Overall, 7-20 was not at all bad. Maybe two years from now...
 

We left a few plays out there on the offensive end against a very good UW defense. I would have loved to see the kids pick up the axe, but overall I still see this as a step forward for Jerry Kill and the program. I'm already looking forward to watching the kids hoist the axe at Camp Randi next fall!!!
 

I thought the same thing about Nelson being off again on some passes ... however, I decided to give him a pass considering the conditions. I think it was more on him on a couple of his decisions. The grounding call and his fumble.
 

Defense played about as well as they could and did a great job overall, while getting next to no help from the offense. That game had the potential to get ugly but the defense never allowed Wisconsin to pull away.

Lack of playmakers on the offensive side of the ball was on full display today. Not an unexpected loss and the silver lining is we are still sitting at 8-3 on the season which is far better than most, myself included, expected from this team this year.
 

First of all, the whole team played hard for four quarters. Second of all, the better team won today. Third of all, the defense exceeded all expectations - hats off to the players and the defensive staff.

That being said, the three main reasons I think we lost: 1) Phillip Nelson played very badly. At times, horrendously. At some level, this was to be expected without Engel and in the cold weather, but he made some truly terrible decisions, which were not caused by either of those factors. Also, his fourth down "pass" to Maxx was so horrific, I think it scarred me for life. 2) There were, I believe, 5 fumbles in the game. We recovered none of them, and 3 of them were turnovers. 3) Not enough receiving talent. Disappointing, but it's just a fact.

Grades (you know, because I'm the ultimate judge of this team):
Running Offense: B-
Passing Offense: F
Running Defense: A-
Passing Defense: A-
Special Teams: B-
 

If you are going to run that play you win it on 3rd down...like you said against a fundamentally sound defense you can't expect to make a 7yard run after the catch to get first down on 4th down

Was this one partially blocked then caught short? Thought I saw it get batted at line in real time, but never saw a replay. Thought they were trying to go to corner of end zone.
 

Yes, Nelson was not comfortable today. One of the reasons upper classmen are so important. Been there done that kind of thinking.
 

Great to see my post-game thread I started gets pushed aside (jk lol)...looks like a fight was just averted, Badgers tried to chop down goalpost and Gophers wouldnt let them
 

Nelson needed to make plays. He didn't. He makes a couple of plays and we got a ball game
 

Wisconsin had its lowest point total (20) of the year..(they even scored 24 on OSU)..that despite the MN offense giving them great field position with turnovers. And they scored our only points too. Hats off to the defense! They rocked!
 

I think executing on the field matters. Not getting inside the 30 until 6 minutes left says that they weren't really in the game. Nice job by the D though.
 

Was this one partially blocked then caught short? Thought I saw it get batted at line in real time, but never saw a replay. Thought they were trying to go to corner of end zone.

It was the throw back that they tried to sneak Cobb out on, where Badgers were playing zone and Borland was waiting for the pass
 

>Defense showed up and held their own...if anyone would have said we hold them to 20 points we would have taken that any day of the week.

>Lack of skill position players is alarming on offense...Kill needs to to start recruiting some WR's that can first catch the ball but actually make someone miss

>Limegrover had his worst game of the season...large gap in talent so you need to show them something they haven't seen. Would argue offense was as vanilla as it has been all season. The 4th down play to Cobb is inexcusable to not have Williams on the field to at least be a decoy
Great take. I will say the wisconsin O-line could have been called for holding on almost every play and the by in large the refs looked the other way, WAY TOO much on obvious calls.
 

Where this team was following Iowa, I'm not real upset. Two areas need improvement. Can't put it on the rug against a good opponent. Nelson had a pretty noticeable regression. Should see Leidner sometime next week.
 




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