Rose Bowl thread... Skunks vs Ducks

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Big Ten football is not very good. But who is reliably better? Only the SEC.

Other parts of the country are growing. Western Pennsylvania used to be the best recruiting turf in the country. Are you laughing out loud yet?
 

When you sell your soul by making a guy like Bielema the head coach and sign a free agent quarterback, karma will eventually bite.

A very strange and fitting ending though.

What shocks me is it seems that both Wilson and the coaching staff were not thinking about the fact that the clock starts on the referee's winding of the arm, not the snap of the ball. Because they should have honestly had a play ready to go there, esp considering the officials gave them a LOT of time to get set on the LOS. Wilson didn't even seem to understand how it's possible for 2 seconds to run off between the time the whistle blows, the ball is snapped, he takes a step back and spikes the ball. Classically stupid football.

And yes, both TO's taken in the first 5 minutes of the second half were boneheaded, the second one especially so. I don't know why you do that when it looks like a close game that could go down to the final possession.
 

GopherInPittsburgh said:
Everyone talks about defenses getting tired and worn out, but I think we saw a role reversal in that the Badger offense was fatigued. Ball had 3 4th quarter carries for 0 yards. That's almost unfathomable.
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It's bad playcalling too. They went away from the run (again) when they were gashing Oregon. And then they tried to run stretch plays instead of taking the big gainers up the middle that they'd had all day.
 

Studwell55 said:
Big Ten football is not very good. But who is reliably better? Only the SEC.

Other parts of the country are growing. Western Pennsylvania used to be the best recruiting turf in the country. Are you laughing out loud yet?
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Agreed. Western PA is not what it used to be.
 

The Bielema Card/Chart

I couldn't help chuckling to myself and, ok, out loud too, to the group watching the Rose Bowl with me - as to where on that D-bag's card or chart, calling those time outs was listed. Sooooo funny that his taking of time outs largely cost them both the MSU game in East Lansing, and again today.

I respect what the Badgers have done, but as for their HC . . . . .

Funny that the comments on B squared were universally negative from the group I was in - 95% of which had no vested or rooting interest one way or another. He just elicits a negative vibe.

Can't fix or find that on "the card", either.
 


Way to bring the Rose Bowl back to the Big 10 again Bucky. Embarrassing! Bielema = Idiot
 


I'd agree with you if they weren't playing Oregon.


It's not a coincidence that Bucky finished 1-3 in their close games. Bert doesn't know how to coach a close game. He had a horrible game plan for last years Rose Bowl against TCU. This year he didn't know how to manage the clock or use his timeouts at the right time.
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
As a Gopher fan for over fifty years, I don't understand the lack of loyalty to the Big 10. I always pull for the Big10 team against any other conference team. The Big 10 is down now, I don't know why, but still worthy of support.
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Normally I do too, but I can't cheer for Bielema. In a sense I was cheering for them, just to lose...
 



GO4INLALALAND said:
I do think the reason for the decline in the Big 10 is that a majority of the top athletes live in the south and would rather play near home or in warm weather than trek up to the north and the cold. Weather and being close to one's family are two factors that a program like MN cannot overcome if these factors play into a recruit's decision as to where to play.
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Wisconsin managed to find some ok talent to come to a cold northern state (now they just need a coach with a solid grasp on the rulebook). The problem isn't our location or conference, it is that we have struggled recently. Kill is righting the ship. I predict a cycle of Kill improving the team thereby enticing better recruits to come thereby giving Kill more tools to make the even better causing even better players to come and so on.
 


Where are all the Bucky fans tonight? They sure came out of the woodwork after they beat the Gophers. Red is dead.
 

B1G football is just fine in my opinion. The SEC is by far the top conference. After that, it's between the Big 12 and B1G for the next best. The Pac 12 is good at the top but terrible in the middle and below.
 



Does Ball come back next year? I'm assuming he does, but you never know.
 

Brew_recruit said:
who will be a better pro, Ball or LMJ?
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I'd go Ball but theyre going to be 2 wildly different used players. LMJ will be Sproles like and be an impact guy and Ball has the ability to be a feature back. I'd say Ball will be the better pro unless the league continues going how it is now and basically eliminates the need for a workhorse back.
 

Clock management killed Wisky between the wasted time out ,and spiking the ball with 2 seconds on the clock, and allowing time to expire. That said turnovers were probably an even bigger factor. Look at Wisky's inability to pressure the passer and you can see why Coach Kill insists on speed at the DE position. Yet despite everything, Wisconsin could of tied, if it had 15 more seconds. The blame for that is squarely on BB.
 

upnorthkid said:
I'd go Ball but theyre going to be 2 wildly different used players. LMJ will be Sproles like and be an impact guy and Ball has the ability to be a feature back. I'd say Ball will be the better pro unless the league continues going how it is now and basically eliminates the need for a workhorse back.
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I think they'll both be pretty decent. As you said, LMJ will have to be more of a Sproles type, but I don't think he's anywhere near the kind of receiver Sproles is. I'm not entirely sure what Sproles stats were in college, but Ball caught a few more passes than LMJ.

Ball is a unique guy, he obviously has the whole workhourse ability, but he is a pretty darn good receiver. I think he is actually more of a natural receiver than LMJ. He catches the ball like a WR and would be about the perfect #2 RB because he could get a lot of carries and be the 3rd down back (he was the third down RB most of last year).
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
...now they just need a coach with a solid grasp on the rulebook...
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I still allow myself to be amazed (I should quit now) how many coaches don't know all the rules. That goes for the experts in the broadcast box as well:

1) The ball has to come out of the endzone completely to be "out". That's on kicks and also on offensive plays that retreat to the endzone (to prevent a safety).

2) The referee winds the clock after first down plays, it doesn't start on the snap. Wiskey had their entire offense lined up and could have run a real play. They thought they didn't need to.

3) There are slew of plays that are not reviewable. Don't waste a TO to try and get it reviewed.

Also seen this weekend:

4) You can't "save" a punt into the endzone in college football. Once it crosses the goal line, it's a dead ball.

5) Illegal procedure (lineman jumping) kills the play. You can't decline and take a sack on the play instead.

6) I kicking team player CAN catch a punt to down it, as long as he doesn't interfere with the receiving team. I think Matt Millen got outraged on this one.
 


Maybe this is stupid considering both offenses were nearly unstoppable in the Rose Bowl and I fully understand/appreciate the benefits of a balanced offense, BUT:

If you're Wisconsin, with one of the best running attacks in the country and among the best offensive lines---- AND, you're running the ball well on Oregon... Why not control the clock?

Last year against TCU, UW threw for a 2 pt. conversion when they were picking up 6-7 yards per carry and lost the game. This year, against one of the most potent offenses in college football, UW declined to control the clock. Bo Ryan would never let one of his basketball teams run with a team that's twice as fast and athletic--- why did Bielema?

I feel like Bielema is a poor-man's Lane Kiffin. He wants to have style and the excitement of an air game. UW isn't built to be an Oregon, it's built to grind--- and if they would have done it against OU, the stud Ducks wouldn't have had the ball nearly as much as they did, which might have changed the game.
 

nsmike said:
Clock management killed Wisky between the wasted time out ,and spiking the ball with 2 seconds on the clock, and allowing time to expire. That said turnovers were probably an even bigger factor. Look at Wisky's inability to pressure the passer and you can see why Coach Kill insists on speed at the DE position. Yet despite everything, Wisconsin could of tied, if it had 15 more seconds. The blame for that is squarely on BB.
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Lets not use the word could, I think its might. After making the first down. The clock stopped with 2 seconds left. Not even Purdue can snap the ball and ground it and still have time on the clock. The faiure was not having the two second play called. Its amazing to me the vaunted Badgers, who talk about the will to win were not in position to make the play. And with the helmet communication, you can bet the call was spike it. This was on the coaching staff and not the players. They might have lost .5 seconds once the ball was marked ready, but for all you recruits do you want your effort going down the tubes due to Coaching Errors?
 

A lot is made of Bielema's lack of intellectual capacity and I don't know if it's true or not. He can string well-crafted sentences together during an interview, so I don't think he's the mental midget some purport him to be. That doesn't contradict the fact that even if he were performing multiple regression analysis or conjugating French verbs in his head on the sidelines, the guy doesn't know squat about clock management.

What I found even more telling was the fact that he basically allowed the crowd to call his time-out for him on the kick return kerfuffle. Note to Brett: Fans are in the stands and not on the sidelines for a reason.

As for the end of the game, wasn't there a rule change or something after Purdue managed to snap the ball and stop the clock against the Mason-era Gophers, allowing Travis Dorsch to tie the game on a field goal, which led to Gopher overtime loss? Seems to me that was the case. People with better memories and a clearer understanding of the rules may be able to help me out here.
 

BB is a knucklehead but he can coach football

I have seen enough of WI football to know that BB can make the right calls when needed. Abbredaris fumble just killed em.
 

wels0081 said:
Maybe this is stupid considering both offenses were nearly unstoppable in the Rose Bowl and I fully understand/appreciate the benefits of a balanced offense, BUT:

If you're Wisconsin, with one of the best running attacks in the country and among the best offensive lines---- AND, you're running the ball well on Oregon... Why not control the clock?

Last year against TCU, UW threw for a 2 pt. conversion when they were picking up 6-7 yards per carry and lost the game. This year, against one of the most potent offenses in college football, UW declined to control the clock. Bo Ryan would never let one of his basketball teams run with a team that's twice as fast and athletic--- why did Bielema?

I feel like Bielema is a poor-man's Lane Kiffin. He wants to have style and the excitement of an air game. UW isn't built to be an Oregon, it's built to grind--- and if they would have done it against OU, the stud Ducks wouldn't have had the ball nearly as much as they did, which might have changed the game.
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I believe UW possessed the ball for 35 or 36 minutes. This was not the problem. Giving up 8.5 yards per play on defense was the problem. The Badgers lost to the better team IMO.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Does Ball come back next year? I'm assuming he does, but you never know.
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Good question. I browse a couple of the pro draft sites and there doesn't seem to be much buzz on Monte Ball. As far as I'm concerned, you can take Trent Richardson if you'd like, but I think Ball is the best running back prospect in the draft. Russell Wilson not only made the Badgers a better team, he made Ball a better player by allowing Chryst to use Ball in the passing game. Ball is truly pro-ready for a variety of offenses at the next level.

It's a tough decision for any kid, but if you are playing running back and are going to tote the mail 250+ times in a season, I think you almost have to go pro and not risk an injury. I love watching the guy (except when he's playing us), so I'm fine either way.
 

badgergopher said:
I believe UW possessed the ball for 35 or 36 minutes. This was not the problem. Giving up 8.5 yards per play on defense was the problem. The Badgers lost to the better team IMO.
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You're right. Badgers had a big advantage in time of possession. Where the Badgers got killed was the lack of speed in their back seven on defense (and in fairness, there aren't many back sevens in college football that wouldn't be at a considerable disadvantage against Oregon's offense). All I can say is that after Brett Furburger said that Borland and Taylor were as good as any set of linebackers in the Big 10 is that the Big 10 must have some pretty crappy sets of LBs.
 

wait!what? said:
I have seen enough of WI football to know that BB can make the right calls when needed. Abbredaris fumble just killed em.
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He can clearly coach but he also clearly struggles with clock management and the use/importance of time outs. Every single Badger fan I know wants Barry to put him on some kind of a shock collar system when it comes to timeouts.
 

Brew_recruit said:
who will be a better pro, Ball or LMJ?
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Ball. I think Ball is pro-ready for a variety of pro offenses. Having Wilson under center for this year, Chryst designed a number of pass plays that featured Ball and Ball showed that he can catch the ball and do some things in space.

I like James and he is flat-out fast, but I don't know if he's big enough to be a featured back at the next level. Doesn't mean he won't be a valuable commodity, I just wonder how many touches he can get per game in the NFL.
 


It's easy to win a lot of football games when you have more talent than your opponent (which, to be fair, is a credit to Enema and his staff), but games where the talent is close are usually decided by coaching. In games decided by a TD or less this year, the Vadgers were 1-3. That pretty much says it all.
 

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