Wisconsin in 3+ weeks

Donate To GopherHole
M

maroonedinCA

Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
793
Reaction score
0
Points
16
I know I'm jumping the shark here a bit, but I can't contain my excitement for the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe. I want nothing more than for the streak to end, hitting a decade long would be terribly disappointing to me. But I'm confident in our team, coach and fans. But, not knowing much about the Badgers program (outside of the 10,000 foot view) I was curious where we stack up. Where are our advantages, disadvantage?

QB
RB
OL
WR
TE

DE
DT
OLB
ILB
CB
S

P
K
PR
KR

HC
OC
DC

Your input would be greatly appreciated just so I know how big of an upset it would actually be!
 

My take having watched many games by both teams.

Wisconsin:
D-line: they have a 3-4 so it's not apples to apples with the u but they have a couple good players from Minnesota, the nose Beau Allen from Minnetonka and the rush OLB Brendan Kelly from Eden Prairie. They have good depth but don't have anyone as good as Hageman (obviously).
Linebacker: they are experienced and Chris Borland is pretty darn good.
D-backs: Dez Southward is the only guy with a lot of experience. They have a true freshman in Sojourn Shelton that they think will be great. Gopher fans may recognize him as the guy who dropped an interception at OSU the play before OSU's 4th down TD before the half earlier this year. They are thin in the back end and are now starting Tanner McEvoy a JUCO QB transfer who switched to safety about six weeks ago. ASU exploited the db's.
Overall it is a good defense that is well coached. They lost by seven at OSU where PSU just lost by a ton. On a neutral field without the intangibles, I'd expect more from the Badger defense than I would from the Gophers. There is just so much more experience in the front seven. Their weakness is get the ball out quick and accurate - ASU used a lot of back shoulder fades.
QB: They also start a Sophmore Joel Stave. Won contest with sixth year senior Phillips who starte Rose Bowl. Stave has a nice arm but has been woefully inaccurate on some long balls and has been bailed out by all world receiver Jared Abbrederis on others.
WR: Abbrederis is probably first team all conf. Great game against Roby, AA CB for OSU. After Abbrederis, there is nothing spectacular. Gopher fans will recognize the name Wheekright, who plays but has been inconsistent.
RB: everyone knows about these guys.
TE: another good group, led by Jacob Peterson
O-Line: They are playing pretty well. Not much has changed. Some poor play early, particularly at RG, but that has been ironed out.

I don't really think the position by position comparisons are that useful. I predicted a Gopher win before the season and I expect an electric atmosphere, particularly if the Gophers beat PSU and Indiana. Ranking position groups, Wisconsin would win most of them. The Gophers would, in my opinion, win QB, K, & DT and P, CB and S would be a push As I said, Wisconsin is older and more experienced, the seniors having played in three Rose Bowls so no surprise there.
 

Great perspective, badgergopher.

A couple things jumped out at me.

At WR, behind Abbrederis you mentioned they have nothing. Does Abbrederis alone make their WR corp stronger than ours? Borland is an animal, and in my opinion has played better than anyone in the conference. I watched the UW/OSU game and those two players scare me more than Melvin Gordon, fair or not fair? Shelton, despite the dropped INT also impressed me in that game for a true freshman.

Either way, I hope they remain competitive and we claw closer to them and ultimately overtake them. I know a lot of folks on this board were hoping for their downfall when Bielema left but I feel like if we're able to overtake them when they're still playing at a high level it will make it that much more sweet. I'd even bet that many of them are hoping we build ourselves up again so the rivalry can become competitive and entertaining agin.
 

I think Melvin Gordon is a tremendous back. I've only watched him a bit this year, but every time I see a highlight, my jaw drops. The guy is a tremendous athlete and football player. I think he's the best pro prospect of all of the great Wisconsin RBs.

I think Stave is pretty good (probably better than most of their QBs since the arrival of Alvarez). Not very mobile, but has a pretty big arm. Abbrederis and Pederson are solid receivers, but the run game is still their bread-and-butter and with Gordon, White, and Clement, they have three top-shelf RBs.

Borland is their best defender, but he's not the only guy on the defense who is good.

They are as physical as ever. Good team. We'll have to play very well to beat them.
 

Gordon is pretty much unstoppable, that's all you need to know.
 


For the Gophers, win or lose these next two against Indiana and Penn State... either way Wisconsin will be a massive challenge. Their offense looks as scary as ever, and their D looks better to me this year. That said, they found a way to lose twice (both to good teams) so anything is possible. However, based on the season so far, Wisconsin seems to be a much bigger challenge compared to Nebraska. A lot of things will have to go right for the Gophers to have a chance to steal that one.
 

Before the Nebraska game I was absolutely dreading the thought of Wisconsin coming to town. I still think its a nightmare matchup for us, but I now have more confidence that we can at least keep the game respectable. I hate them with every ounce of my soul, but I think Wisconsin is the most underrated team in the country.
 

maroonedinCA said:
Great perspective, badgergopher.

A couple things jumped out at me.

At WR, behind Abbrederis you mentioned they have nothing. Does Abbrederis alone make their WR corp stronger than ours? Borland is an animal, and in my opinion has played better than anyone in the conference. I watched the UW/OSU game and those two players scare me more than Melvin Gordon, fair or not fair? Shelton, despite the dropped INT also impressed me in that game for a true freshman.

Either way, I hope they remain competitive and we claw closer to them and ultimately overtake them. I know a lot of folks on this board were hoping for their downfall when Bielema left but I feel like if we're able to overtake them when they're still playing at a high level it will make it that much more sweet. I'd even bet that many of them are hoping we build ourselves up again so the rivalry can become competitive and entertaining agin.
Click to expand...

Abbrederis is probably the only elite WR on either team. Frederick will remind you of some of the guys on the Gophers, not huge but steady, not sure if he's better than Engel. Doe is small, is a good PR and does slot stuff like the Gophers have done with Jones & Maye over the last couple years. Much of Wisconsin's receiving comes from the TE position.

I really hope both teams are 8-2/9-2 when they play. There is no guarantee. WI plays in Iowa City and then gets a good BYU team before going to Bloomington. The Gophers could easily be the team with the better record entering the game if one of those teams catches the Badgers.
 

It's probably difficult to recruit multiple stud WR's to a place like Wisconsin. I imagine we will have a similar problem if our program continues to rise.
 



maroonedinCA said:
I know I'm jumping the shark here a bit, but I can't contain my excitement for the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe. I want nothing more than for the streak to end, hitting a decade long would be terribly disappointing to me. But I'm confident in our team, coach and fans. But, not knowing much about the Badgers program (outside of the 10,000 foot view) I was curious where we stack up. Where are our advantages, disadvantage?

Your input would be greatly appreciated just so I know how big of an upset it would actually be!
Click to expand...
I don't think you're using the phrase "jump the shark" correctly. It's not the same as jumping the gun.

Fonzie_jumps_the_shark.PNG
 

Nokomis said:
I don't think you're using the phrase "jump the shark" correctly. It's not the same as jumping the gun.

Fonzie_jumps_the_shark.PNG
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right. I have no idea why I used that idiom as I do know what it means. Chalk it up to typing it up somewhat late and a couple glasses of wine. Either way, mea culpa (pretty sure I used that correctly).
 

afurry91 said:
It's probably difficult to recruit multiple stud WR's to a place like Wisconsin. I imagine we will have a similar problem if our program continues to rise.
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree with you, though thru the years I remember them having some pretty decent ones: Chambers, Toon, Evans, Abbrederis and I'm probably missing some other ones.

The flurry of hope around here has also made me look into recruiting a little more to see where we stack up and they seem to be one of the favorites for a 4* out of VA named Jamil Kamara or something to that effect so apparently the new coach has some appeal.
 

I don't know if we can contain their offense...they are really good. Our offense will struggle against Borland. We just don't seem to get to the second level. For us to have a chance at running against them, we need a plan that has blockers coming at Borland from different angles. I look for crack backs, cut backs and lots of TE down blocks on him. In a perfect world, we get him shooting gaps to keep blockers off him and that opens up play action and off tackle. My prediction is he has 15 tackles and dominates the game and we lose by 20 plus.
 



Couple of notes:

1) Abbrederis is averaging 107 yds per game. He also missed much of Wisconsin's game against Northwestern. The Gopher receivers are averaging 123 yards per game. He alone might not make the Badger WRs better than the Gopher WRs, but he gets most of the way there.

2) QB is a tough comparison. Stave has the best passing stats of any of the 3 QBs in the comparison, but he does not run. It would be interesting to see stats on total first downs generated, as that might be a good way to compare.

3) As for recruiting WRs to Wisconsin, it's pretty clear they've struggled since Abbrederis is a walk-on. But in addition to the aforementioned Kamara, they have 2014 commitments from two WRs who had offers from Nebraska, Iowa, Florida State, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida between them. Certainly it's got to be harder to recruit WRs to a run-first system, and who knows how those guys will turn out, but at least it shows it's possible.
 

justthefacts said:
Couple of notes:

1) Abbrederis is averaging 107 yds per game. He also missed much of Wisconsin's game against Northwestern. The Gopher receivers are averaging 123 yards per game. He alone might not make the Badger WRs better than the Gopher WRs, but he gets most of the way there.

2) QB is a tough comparison. Stave has the best passing stats of any of the 3 QBs in the comparison, but he does not run. It would be interesting to see stats on total first downs generated, as that might be a good way to compare.

3) As for recruiting WRs to Wisconsin, it's pretty clear they've struggled since Abbrederis is a walk-on. But in addition to the aforementioned Kamara, they have 2014 commitments from two WRs who had offers from Nebraska, Iowa, Florida State, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida between them. Certainly it's got to be harder to recruit WRs to a run-first system, and who knows how those guys will turn out, but at least it shows it's possible.
Click to expand...

1). Abbrederis is a walk-on? Jesus.
2). Limited time watching Stave but in the games I've seen this year and those I saw last year he does seem to have a big arm. The difference bewteen him and the other QB in the Rose Bowl is night and day. Stave appears to have the biggest arm when comparing between Nelson/Leidner.
3). You seem to know a lot more about recruiting than I (see your knowledge of their WR recruits). Do you get the impression that UW is recruiting at a higher level now than they were under Bielema? A quick look has them at 3rd in the B1G on one of the sites, not sure if that's a normal spot for them or relatively high when compared to previous years.
 

If I had to guess, we'll get ground up and spit out vs. Wisconsin. Our weaknesses are Wiscy's strengths.
 

Um, maybe it's only me but it seems like this discussion could better take place in about two weeks. We'll know a lot more about where we're at. Already nervous about this Saturday.
 

The receiving corp really is amazing, both how great Jared Abbrederis is playing right now, and how there STILL is nobody behind him. Teams really only need to focus on #4 (Abbrederis), yet he still gets open for 10/150/1 a game.

Melvin Gordon is an absolute freak. He can pretty much run for as many yards as he wants, and should be a favorite to win the Doak Walker.

The defense has really picked up their game, though when Borland got hurt against Illinois it looked quite pedestrian. Another name I didn't see mentioned here in Michael Caputo. He's a safety/CB/OLB sort of player that can line up anywhere, rushing the passer or dropping into coverage. Had 7 tackles against Illinois.

Those three players are among the best in the nation at their position, and beyond that the team is good all around, but not really great. I do think Wisconsin will win this game easily. Stop the run and get after the QB and they can contain Minnesota's O. On offense, I think Gordon and White will put up a combined 300 yards and control the game.
 

maroonedinCA said:
1). Abbrederis is a walk-on? Jesus.
2). Limited time watching Stave but in the games I've seen this year and those I saw last year he does seem to have a big arm. The difference bewteen him and the other QB in the Rose Bowl is night and day. Stave appears to have the biggest arm when comparing between Nelson/Leidner.
3). You seem to know a lot more about recruiting than I (see your knowledge of their WR recruits). Do you get the impression that UW is recruiting at a higher level now than they were under Bielema? A quick look has them at 3rd in the B1G on one of the sites, not sure if that's a normal spot for them or relatively high when compared to previous years.
Click to expand...


Sorry, Abbrederis WAS a walk-on. Typo.

I do follow recruiting pretty closely. A lot of my posts are related to that. I think it's really hard to compare the classes. In the Jeff Jones thread I talked about comparing classes of wildly different size by taking the top X number of recruits from each class where X is the size of the smallest class. UW's recruiting ranking is certainly higher than in previous years, but class size is likely the big driver of that. Someone who was inclined could probably get a better read by taking the top X from this year's class because the previous years were smaller.

As I also mention in that Jeff Jones thread post, though, even recruitniks are skeptical of the pure rankings from recruiting services. Offers are likely more telling, but again doing comparisons between classes based on offers would be a really time-consuming exercise.

Lastly, the state of Wisconsin had a better class of HS players than in previous years, and that probably contributes to the result as well. You have to figure that Bielema could have had the same success rate among WI players as Andersen has had simply because history would indicate that.
 

Formo said:
If I had to guess, we'll get ground up and spit out vs. Wisconsin. Our weaknesses are Wiscy's strengths.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I agree. I'll still be hopeful until proven otherwise, but it is a terrible matchup for us right now
 

It depends upon the weather. A snowstorm would be great. I am interested in what happens between Iowa and Wisconsin this Saturday.


Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom