Bigdsrip

Badger fan here, just thought I would add a little context from a UW POV. The general feeling in Madison is that this is the best squad that we have had in years. There are several reasons for this but the overarching theme is that stability has finally returned to the program. The last few years haven't been bad but it required some duct tape to get us through them. This year we are finally playing with a fully functioning program again. -First and foremost at UW will always be the lines. The D line has managed to come through the turnover without much drop off and every one is back from last year. We are now in year four of running the 3-4 D and the roster is fully adapted now. The D-line doesn't get a ton of pub but they keep the traffic off our LBs and allow them to flow to the play. The 3 starters have all started for 2/3 years on top 5 defenses. There is good, experienced depth behind them as well. This is the strength of a loaded D. -Despite the cliched talking points, the O line has not been up to UW standards the last 2-3 years. We have won a lot of games despite them, not because of them, since Bret left. A combination of career ending injuries, recruiting misses and a misguided change to our S&C program meant UW was working with a patch work, undersized and weak line. Last season we started 7 different offensive line combos and won 11 games. The key this year is not only the returning starters, it is the fact that they have all been through a real Wisconsin S&C program now. As Nebraska fans know better than most, it takes time to build up the quality and culture of an offensive line group and Chryst has been here for 3 summers now. We expect a huge jump in the quality of the O line this season. -The skill guys are actually skilled. UW has been trudging along with a bunch of walk ons ever since Nick Toon left. Abby, Erickson and Fumagalli were all one man shows in the passing game. This year we expect to have multiple weapons. Fumagalli is obviously back, as is an improved Jazz Peavy, but the young skill guys have everyone really excited. All the reports so far are that the WRs have been making plays all camp. And not just the top guy, there are 5 first or second year players that look like they can contribute this season. That is the key to Paul Chryst's offense, balance, and he has been playing with one hand tied behind his back since his return. In his 6 seasons as Offensive Coordinator before he left his offenses put up 5 of the top 10 passing seasons in Badger history and 4 of the top 10 offenses overall, including his last two which put up over 40 points per game. He loves to use multiple personnel in a wide range of shifting formations. Obviously that isn't nearly as effective if the D only needs to worry about one WR or TE on the whole team. Combined with the expected improvement on the O line, the offense looks like it can finally be counted on to pull its weight. -The D has been in the top 10 for four years now. I expect that to go to five for five after this season. The loss of Watt, Beigel and Cichy hurt but there are still a ton of playmakers on this squad. Chris Orr started ahead of Cichy but he was hurt on literally the first snap of the season and everyone forgot about him. The OLBs are both seniors with a lot of quality experience even if they haven't been starters. Leon Jacobs is one to keep an eye on as he is the best athlete on the team and has been flashing in camp. The secondary loses two starters but everyone seems to think they will be improved. Nick Nelson is a transfer who the players have been raving about for a year now. He is being talked about like he is only going to be here for one year before the NFL calls. Overall the talent level on this D is ahead of where it was last year, which is a scary thought considering how good that group was. Remember Watt was only known for his brothers at this point last year as everyone was wondering if he could fill Joe the Show's shoes. This D is bigger than any one player and has been able to overcome much bigger losses than they face this year without a drop off. -Jim Leonhard is the X factor. I suppose most Nebraska fans have little idea who he is since he played before the merger but he is a Wisconsin legend. Like one of the top 10 players to ever come through our program legend. He walked on from a town of 115 people in the Northwoods ('Tiny Tony Wisconsin' as every announcer said) and looks a little too small to play sophomore ball. He left Wisconsin as the NCAA record holder with 10 INTs in a season and the B1G career punt return leader, before playing 10 years in the NFL as a 5'8 175 lb safety. He pretty much followed Rex Ryan around, who runs a very similar 3-4 D to UW, and was known around the league as a coach on the field. There will be some kinks to work out but he is going to be a very, very good coach. If he isn't in the NFL in 5 years it is only because he is as Wisconsin as one could possibly be. I think most Badger fans fully expect him to take over for Chryst in a decade or so if he isn't in the NFL. I know it is ridiculous after one year of coaching at any level, but Leonhard has proven time and again that to underestimate him is even more ridiculous. Leonhard Mic'd Up I could go on (IS IT GAMETIME YET!!!) but I think you get the point. Even if it didn't really show in the records the team took a hit from the coaching turnover, but Chryst has had time to right the ship and return us to the Wisconsin Way (or Nebraska Way if we want to be honest). There is depth and skill on this squad the likes of which we haven't seen since 2011. Basically we expect the D to hold serve and be one of the top units in CFB while the O should take a huge leap forward and get back to Chryst's standards (meaning a balanced pass/run ratio around 200/200 yards and 35-40 points a week). That is why we are so excited in Madison and the CFB media is catching on. It would be one thing if the only buzz was from one scrimmage under the lights on BTN but the buzz has been consistent throughout camp. Every national writer that has come through, as well as the local guys, have been shocked at the talent level and said look out for UW as a CFP contender. Obviously it could all go sideways and we look stupid for our optimism but right now anything less than 11-1 would be a massive disappointment.

The states are similar in many ways but Nebraska is still by far the smallest state in the B1G. Wisconsin has nearly 6 million people in it and one D-1 football program. Iowa is closer at just over 3 million but that is still over a million more than Nebraska's 1.88. There are 3.3 million people in the Twin Cities alone, and that isn't even getting into the big states East of Chicago. It is not a small obstacle to play in a conference where most schools are in states that have 3-5 times the population of Nebraska.

It is a heated rivalry, and the all time record is about as close as can be at 59-58-8 in Minnesota's favor, but recently it has not been a close match up. UW has won 12 straight and 19 of the last 21. Since Barry got here and turned things around the series is 21-5 to Wisconsin. The streak is gong to end sometime but this is not the year. Minnesota likes to run right you and has no deep threat at all. They will be lucky to score a TD on offense. What they do plays right into UW's strengths, plus this Badger team is really, really good and will be locked in for that one. I am personally much more worried about Purdue tomorrow. The Boilers like the quick, dink and dunk style passing game which has given UW some trouble this season as it takes away our biggest weapon (pass rush) and they have a couple guys that can score from anywhere. Purdue has nothing to lose and there will be no atmosphere what-so-ever, could be a trap game.

We will see. UW returns almost everyone next year. Lose Shelton, Biegel and Musso on D, Houston, Clement, Dare and Wheelright on O. Everyone else comes back (also two starting ILBs and our NT who didn't play on Sat). Paul Chryst is in his second season and had to really restock the roster after having 3 different head coaches in 3 years. Next year is the year that UW is going to be back to full strength and should be rocking and rolling. I don't think anyone is going to be blowing UW out next year, most will be hard pressed to win by 1. And Nebraska won't be getting us right off of the hardest stretch in program history either.

Just goes back to what a lot of Badger fans have said, the horror stories where a product of the results on the field more than anything. Shocking that when it is a decent game and you can be proud of your team how suddenly Madison is a great place. I think the loudness, or lack thereof, is because of a few things, mostly the fact that this was our 5th top 10 matchup of the season. Add to that the fact that it was Freakfest and that NU had yet to be even remotely competitive in Madison and you have a recipe for a distracted fan base. This has been an issue at UW for a while. The party comes first and we tend to blow out a lot of overmatched teams at home so if you aren't OSU, Michigan or if UW is a huge underdog, the crowd expects it to be over by Jump Around and the atmosphere isn't overly hyped. Camp Randall has a very high ceiling but on average isn't super crazy. I was a little disappointed myself that there wasn't more buzz in the air, now that NU has shown they can give us a game it should be better in future years.

I have to say I think it is more likely that UW loses to Northwestern than Nebraska beats OSU. Nebraska D really struggled containing the edge and got some gifts from UW's QBs that kept the game close. I see OSU's speed on the edge giving Nebraska fits and TA looked like he was running on fumes by the end of the game yesterday and looked pretty poor throughout (12-31 159 0-2 isn't going to get it done unless the other team plays like crap). Nebraska is on the right track and showed much improved mental toughness but I think they still have a ways to go to really compete for league titles. Giving up 10 yards per carry to a backup RB, many of which came late in the game after your D wore down, while your QB completes less than 40% of his passes with two terrible picks sounds disturbingly familiar. Evanston has been UW's bugaboo forever (lost the last 4 games there) and I wouldn't be shocked to see a bit of a mental lapse from UW now that the ridiculous part of the schedule is over. Badgers could very well lose next week opening up the West for NU, but I think OSU is going to be a rude awakening for the Huskers.

Like when 2010 at-one-point-top-5-ranked Nebraska nearly lost to South Dakota State. Or when 2014 Nebraska who spent most of the year in the top 20 was one Ameer Abdullah miracle play away from overtime with McNeese State. Or when #18 (by end of season rankings) Michigan lost to Appalachian State in 2007. idk how it's some kind of magical revelation that good teams struggle against bad teams sometimes. Nebraska in 2010 went up 14-0 and never trailed. Are you also arguing that NU in '14 was really good? I agree, but just surprised to hear you advocate that position. Wisconsin isn't better than NU this year. They are pretty good. By no means are they great. The talent level is pretty close, but IMO the loss of their leading tackler is what should make the difference. TA is a much more talented QB than anything that Wisky has and as long as the offense doesn't turn the ball over, there is no way that NU should lose this game. Stack the line and make them pass. He isn't accurate over 10-15 yards and doesn't have a strong arm by any means. I like how we match up with them at this point in the season. That isn't saying that we can't lose, but I think they need some help from us to win the game. Cichy has been a beast this year, no doubt it would be nice to have him. But just for perspective's sake I think it should be noted that Cichy was the backup to begin the season. He was only starting because our #2 ILB Chris Orr was lost for the season on the first play of the LSU game. Chicy is our #3 ILB and our #4, Connelly was great against LSU (our #1 ILB Edwards was out for that game). Losing Cichy isn't good, but this team has great depth at LBer and the system really allows guys to shine there. I doubt this will be the difference in the game. The key will be TA's accuracy and ability to hit guys in rhythm on quick hitting routes and which team can convert 3rd downs. The run game isn't going to work and on longer developing pass plays, UW's pass rush has been dominant. But we give up the <7 yard routes and try to limit YAC. That is our weakness and where NU has to have success. On the other side having CC back and healthy is a huge boon to UW's O. It means you have to respect the run and gives our WRs and TEs one on one opportunities on the outside. If our Oline can give him time, Hornibrook has shown he can find and hit the open guy. As with most B1G games, it all comes down to who wins in the trenches. Should be a good game. This is the 2nd best Badger team NU will have faced since joining the B1G (after the original with Russell Wilson) and they still feel they have a lot to prove. NU is going to have to beat us, we aren't going to give it away. Obviously UW fans are confident that we can take care of business at home but it is far from a done deal.

Another relevant stat is SOS UW-3rd NU-72nd. Just something to keep in mind when breaking down the numbers.

I think Wisconsin has been fairly consistent so far this year. A lot of people have been putting undue weight on the GSU game because it better fits their preconceived notions of what they thought UW was going to be coming into the year. UW played all or most of that game with out our #1 target in TE Fumigalli, our top 3 RBs, both starting G's and switched QBs in the second half. That is excluding the fact that that game was a gimme before the hardest stretch in UW history and they called it as conservatively as possible. In every game against meaningful competition UW has been remarkably consistent. We shut teams down on D, primarily by limiting the run and then blitzing the crap out of the QB on 3rd down. Our LBs are quick and sure tacklers, as are our S's, which means teams face a lot of 3rd and 6 or 7's and then we bring pressure to force quick throws into covered areas. UW is currently 4th in the nation in 3rd down D with opposing offenses converting around 24% of the time. That is the key to our D. Limit big plays, make teams convert third and longs as they drive down the field. The only thing that has given us consistent trouble are quick, dink and dunk type drives. If TA is able to get the ball out of his hand quickly and in rhythm you guys will move the ball. If you are relying on 10-20 yard routes off of 4 or 5 step drops (obviously different in shotgun but those type of routes) I think you will really struggle to find consistency on O. The run game isn't going to work. On offense UW has been consistent in its inconsistency, primarily in the red zone. The LSU, Iowa, and MSU games all could have been 10-20 points worse if UW had just been able to cash in some of its long drives for scores. For as inept as the scores look, UW has actually been pretty good at moving the ball. There haven't been many 3 & outs, usually they are able to get at least a 1st down or three before someone drops a pass or whiffs on a block to get us behind the chains. They have really struggled in the opponents last third of the field. Hornibrook shows a lot of promise but he does not get good zip on the ball, so he seems to have difficulty fitting it in to the tighter spaces around the end zone. Our play calling is also pretty vanilla, 9 times out of 10 CC is getting it on 1st and 2nd around the goal line, and the O line has been unable to give him much space to work. Outside of the Red Zone, CC has been running hard the last few weeks. He isn't anywhere near as explosive as Gordon, White or Ball so his 'big' runs tend to be of the 10-20 yard variety and usually involve a broken tackle or two. This has in some ways helped our D stay off the field because our drives are seldom under 6-8 plays and involve taking chunks off the clock, though we could obviously use some more scoring. The WRs use a lot of crossing routes and play action to gain space. We don't take many shots over the top, but usually there are at least 2 or 3 times we will try to catch a S cheating up on PA and let one go. Overall it is a typical B1G pro style O. Lots of presnap shifting, looking to get guys isolated in winnable match ups. The line is adequate but not to UW standards yet. Our Gs really struggle in pass pro and overall we don't see much push when the D loads up at the point of attack. CC has had to really grind for his yards this season, and he is good at getting 2-3 out of nothing to keep the O moving forward. In obvious passing downs we have not been able to keep guys off of the QB. Sometimes he is able to get it out of there on time, but more often he gets overwhelmed if there are defenders in his face. He doesn't have a great pocket sense yet and misses a lot of opportunities to step up into throwing lanes. We have also faced 3 of the top 10 fronts in all of CFB, plus MSU and Iowa, so it isn't shocking that the O hasn't looked super sharp. What gives Badger fans a lot of hope is that our line is finally getting healthy, as is CC, and hopefully we will get our #2 RB back this week in Deal. And even given the ridiculous schedule and all the injuries, outside of Michigan, our O has been able to move the ball pretty consistently. Our WRs are horribly underrated, Peavy in particular, and the TE is a pro, if the line is able to keep guys off of Hornibrook, the only thing stopping us has been self-inflicted mistakes. I think Husker fans will be a little surprised by the Badger O, it is much more balanced than in recent years. Nebraska is about to take a huge leap up in competition this week. UW hasn't looked great at times this year but that is in large part because we have played LSU, Michigan, MSU, Iowa and Ohio State. Even the 'bad' teams in there have multiple NFL starters and are coming off 12 win seasons. Meanwhile Nebraska has also looked pretty 'meh' for much of the season while playing teams that UW routinely beats by 4 TDs (Indiana, Illinois, Purdue) and whose signature win is over a 2 win Oregon squad that is giving up nearly 50 points a game. Of course the Huskers have a chance to win this one and have been much improved on the field, not to mention the general air about the program. I just don't see it happening in Madison on Freakfest. If you think Madison has been hostile before, this weekend will be a whole other level (in the city, the actually game atmosphere will be hard pressed to ever top the first one) and the energy should be through the roof. Be prepared, all joking aside. Having watched a bunch of both teams, I just don't see the same level of physicality from Nebraska that I do from UW and I think that will be the difference in a close, swingy game. I'm saying 24-13 UW in a crazy Camp Randall. Good luck to Nebraska and have fun & be safe to all the fans making the trip.

Your trip to The Camp will depend entirely on your attitude about it. If you wear Husker gear you will be heckled, most commonly with an 'a$* hole' chant, other times worse. This is usually not meant in a mean spirited way and if you react with a smile and a cleaver comeback people will offer you a beer. Overindulgence can be a problem but just use a little common sense and avoid those idiots and the problem goes away. Stories about Nebraska fans getting jumped and having people refuse to help them are ridiculous. Madison isn't some farm town where football is God and the local police are all cousins with the coach. I'm not going to say people don't get in fights on campus, but 999 times out of 1,000 it is a two way street, like any other college campus in the country. After a few years in the conference it isn't surprising that Nebraska fans have experienced a culture clash in Madison. You pride yourselves on clapping for the opponents while we have a cheer that goes F you/Eat Sh**. Different strokes for different folks. But having attended countless games at Camp Randall over the last 25 years I have to say that the behavior described in this thread is unlike anything I have ever seen. Yes we swear a lot and are super drunk, if that offends you, then you are going to have a bad time. If you are willing to laugh at yourself and give as good as you get, in a good natured way, you are going to have a great trip. I have never seen fans accost old ladies, and if they did they would be immediately swarmed by the police/other fans. I think the demoralizing nature of the games themselves have been the single biggest factor in most terrible experiences by Husker fans. It sucks getting rocked by a team you consider beneath you that totally stole your style. It is easy to take the ribbing in a much more sinister light when the game is getting out of hand on the field. Maybe that does make us terrible fans in the eyes of some Cornhuskers, if so I get it. Bottom line is that in Madison, the party comes first, the game is a distant second to most fans. If you can enjoy the party, and the adult language, you will have a great time.

Go back and look at Callahan's schedule in 2007. I was not and am not a Callifan, but I strongly doubt this "10-2" team would have done any better against that schedule. If we were in the other division, the outcome would be much worse than it is this year; if we were in the Big XII still, we sure wouldn't finish this season with 2 losses. Just like the new selection committee, you should look at the quality of the wins and losses, not just the numbers. I mean, we could go independent and try to schedule as many lower division teams as we could, maybe a couple from the bottom of Conference USA, and win out! Undefeated! Then squawk and squawk about how we were screwed! Everyone is out to get us! We beat everyone on our pathetic schedule and don't get a shot at the NC? No fair! As much as I dislike the SEC hype, we look leagues worse than any two loss team in that conference. Many of the 3 loss teams and even LSU with 4 would be nearly insurmountable. Fine, okay, 2 losses in the worst division in the power 5. Yay. Have you seen the ACC Coastal? The leader of the SEC East lost at home to the worst team in the B1G. The top teams in the B1G would do just fine in any other conference, the gap is way overblown. I'd love to see Arky, Kentucky, Vandy, Tenn, Texas A&M or Florida come play in Minneapolis or Madison in the snow and see how great they look.

I think one thing that has been left out, at least regarding yesterdays game, is that UW is a dang good team that came to play angry in their game of the year. This is a lost year for UW even with the B1G title still in reach because this team should be undefeated right now. Early season coaching decisions (going with McEvoy over the clear player favorite/better QB Stave) cost this Badger team two VERY winnable games. UW was doing the same thing to LSU before injuries left us without 2 of our 3 DL, our FB and Gordon and they realized that McEvoy couldn't complete a 5 yard out route. Northwestern was a debacle in the rain (despite Gordon's 250+ yards) and Stave's rust cost us 3 INTs in the NW redzone. Other than that we have absolutely destroyed every team we have played. This was our only chance to make up for our disappointment on a national stage against a really good team and the guys were ready. Melvin Gordon has been talking about this matchup since the preseason. He has been very upfront about how much he wants the Heisman and he knew that if he was going to be a real contender it would all come down to this game and the showdown with Abdullah. That hunger has only grown as UW has been off the national radar since the first week of the season, he has been waiting his entire life for this game and he made the most of it. That doesn't mean that this result was inevitable but I think too many Husker fans are forgetting that UW had this game circled too. Sometimes you just get whopped by a team that wants it more, it doesn't mean the whole system is broken. But then again, I realize that Nebraska views itself as one of the top 5 programs in the land and the expectations are different here than they are just about anywhere else.

Melvin Gordon is right there with him when it comes to good character. Check out his feature on the Journey for just one example.

Not my experience. I had items thrown at me (including beer). I had people tell my son he was a loser in his Husker gear with 2 different people putting a shoulder into him as he walked by...because 14 year olds need to have that happen when they're not saying anything at all to anyone. My wife and son had to hear opposing fans tell her she needed to be with a real man along with lots of sexual references. It was awesome that my son had to hear that too. It brought back memories of Colorado as I've said in the past. It was a great experience during the game but before and after, it was pure and unadulterated crap due to the unwelcoming nature of a "few" fans. The worst part is...if that happened in Nebraska, other Nebraska fans would jump all over those few who were ruining it for visitors...but instead, all that happened was jeers and cheers from people at Randall. As I've said, it wasn't a good experience...when someone threatens your family, it's not cool. It sounds like you did not put any effort into discerning what was actually a threat to your family and what was simply trash talk at a sporting event. If you take all of that at face value and can't laugh it off than you are exactly the type of person who should not come to Camp Randall. You are the enemy on game day. You should expect some ribbing. I get it that Nebraska fans had no idea what to expect coming into Camp Randall and the reality was jarring. Now you know that we do football different and as crazy as it may seem we take an equal amount of pride in being unruly and irreverent as you do in being nice and polite. Madison has always done things a little differently and we enjoy sticking it to the system/powers that be. In football that means that we are a decidedly R rated experience and we like it that way. If you don't that is fine, different strokes for different folks, but a little reality is healthy in every discussion. The reality here was that Nebraska fans believed the ESPN hype and thought the B1G sucked and that they were going to waltz in here and win the title every year, starting with a nationally televised coming out party against Wisconsin. All summer we heard about how UW was just a second rate Nebraska, a cheap imitation that was going to get introduced to the real thing when 20,000 NU fans invaded our house and showed us upstarts what was what. Except that that script got thrown out the window and the Badger rout was on. It became shockingly clear that, in fact, the B1G can play a little ball, Nebraska fans had no impact at all on our stadium as they were completely drowned out by a familiar yet foreign Sea of Red, and the team on the field got curb stomped by a team embracing the philosophy you abandoned right about the same time you lost superpower status. Combined with the culture shock it was a lot to take in for the Husker fans in attendance and it is not surprising that many of them had a less than pleasurable experience. In the days of internet anonymity it is easy for a relatively mundane interaction to take on mythic proportions and be widely disseminated as the absolute truth. That is what happened here. I'm sure there were a few incidents where Badger fans crossed the line, that is true of any stadium in such a charged atmosphere and Camp Randall is certainly not immune, but the tales of widespread assaults and abuse are simply not true. People are going to filter interactions through their own ethos and reach their own conclusions but that is not proof of intent. Many of those same fans that you thought were threatening you and your family would have bought you all a beer if you had returned their jabs in kind and with a smile. Finally, for the other poster, of course people don't act like that at work or in the grocery store. But you weren't at a grocery store or at work, you were at a college football night game between two top ten teams at a local that is known to embrace the drinking culture (IE Milwaukee Brewers). To expect the same standards of behavior to exist at those events is asinine. But then what do I know, I'm just a drunken virgin moron.

Real quick...you do or do not start chanting "A-Hole" chants at dinners, movies, school plays and the grocery store. Literally two posts above this you wrote: "You sound like a moron...you don't need to act like an ass. It is that simple. You are probably a virgin." ​You win, clearly we Wisconsin fans have much to learn from sages such as yourself on what it means to be 'classy', and how not to act like an ass. Now I better get off my computer so I can go find a real girl!