Undone

The difference? Probably four or five aneurysms.

This assessment by McKewon is so damn good. It's probably the most concise way to sum up the issues on both sides of the ball. Only thing I'd add - in seven years, we've yet to recruit an above average QB. Add that to McKewon's quote above in the OP, and that's about the sum total of it.

Confirmed. Bucky shows up to rip Old Milwaukee tall boys and leave after 'Jump Around.' Outcome on field irrelevant. Thank you for this confirmation.

Really interesting stat.

I don't get much of a rise over talking trash with opponents' fans here. Really pointless. And, for you badger fans that haven't noticed, that really isn't the vibe on this board for the most part. I can say pretty definitively though that on average, this is the attitude of the average Badger fan that stops in here: -When they beat Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, or another storied program the rhetoric is "How do you like getting embarrassed by perennial powerhouse Wisconsin?!" -When they lose, the rhetoric is "We're just here to drink beer anyway, not a big deal." It's interesting how that second one is a complete polar opposite of our fan base.

I agree with the majority of what you're saying, but I still think that the question of where we could potentially be if we stop marrying ourselves to recruiting only dual-threat QBs is very underrated. If you snag a kid who has inherently more passing ability and you pair him up with the stable of WR's we've gotten along with our ability to recruit and coach great I-Backs, it seems like worth a shot to try. I so badly want to see Bo try to find a kid that's 'pass first, run second,' but it apparently just isn't going to happen. I hate saying this, because it feels disloyal to Tommy...but I'm constantly wondering if we'd be a different (read: much better) offense with a pass-first guy.

There's just no way Beck gets fired. It's hard to believe people are entertaining this.

This. I keep imagining what we'd have with a guy even like K-State's QB given the fact we have a Heisman candidate running back.

I agree with you. But to play devil's advocate with the way we used our passing downs, if Tommy isn't throwing the ball too strong and over the head of his receivers (happened multiple times Saturday, including a first down play action pass where his man was wide open and he overthrew him), how does that possibly change perceptions of the passing plays we ran?

It's hilarious that you can't see the irony in this and his comment after reading through most of this thread. Also, has it occurred to you that possibly Beck is trying to tune up the passing game after seeing the atrocity that was our offensive line against Michigan State? Maybe he feels the way we actually win in Madison and Indy is to work on the passing game as much as we can, seeing the way Michigan State stonewalled Abdullah. But I'm sure someone will chime in and claim that Beck went away from the run too much in that game, and that we could have won if we just would have handed it off 50 times to Ameer.

Agreed. This is what gets inside my head, too. Because of Abdullah's insane run-up to this senior year and not really seeing anyone behind him doing what he's done (for the next couple of seasons), it makes the 'if not now, when?' question all the more challenging. ...but then I look at D'Antonio. A relative 'nobody' in the bigger college football world until recently when in my opinion he quietly slipped into the coaching elite and brought a program really far. I think Bo can do what D'Antonio has done. But this season is surely his best chance yet to get the conference title.

My biggest question for you: If Moore catches that ball in the end zone in East Lansing, would you still have made this thread? We were one catch away from being squarely in the playoff conversation. But as far as what's different: A) Improvement on special teams has been huge. We've had relatively good field position advantage most of the season. B) Armstrong is less prone to melting down under pressure than T-Magic (and has created fewer turnovers, too). C) Our defensive line is playing much, MUCH better No need for psycho-analysis. Those three things have made us better, and that makes it 'feel different'.

I lol'd hard, +1.

Wasn't online last night, so I missed this. Am I the only one who thinks this was less of a shot at T-Magic as it is a hopeful brush of optimism by Bell that he'll get to very possibly win a conference title this season? That it was more of, "Hey, I love my QB - and here's why..." kind of thing?

He was OK with the bias while he was at LSU? Yeah, I remember him saying that. He was like, "I'm ok with the bias."

**double post**

Agree with all of the above. With regards to the bold, it's something I've thought about quite a bit this season. I'm not at our practices, ever, so what do I know? But it seems obvious that 'dual threat' QBs spend much of their time in Spring ball, Fall camp, and in-season practice hours practicing their run game. All of which could have been otherwise spent improving their arm. It's a distinct disadvantage to Tommy, and it needs to be taken into consideration. I think that's a lot of why Martinez improved so much coming in to his Junior year - it was sheer repetition, and it makes sense. It wasn't just that this coach was a Zen Master throwing coach; repetition definitely had a lot to do with it. That's a big reason why I've come to the conclusion that I can't bitch about every little problem he has in his throwing game. It can (and almost certainly will) improve as time goes on. Maybe, just maybe, it might even improve quite a bit in the next five games. And if that happens...

I think we're starting to see some shades of Suh's last couple of years with Gregory, also. Gregory's getting so many double teams that others on our line are able to blow through the line for sacks. It was nice to see Gangwish and Williams play well Saturday night.

Good things, good things.

That 3rd down conversion ranking...wow. Props to our boys on offense.

+1. This has been a hell of a bye week stretch after the MSU game on this forum.

No doubt. Definitely hard to argue against there being a different mentality. Totally agree, and really interesting points. After Michigan State's season last year, I started looking at Dantonio. Who really cared about Mark Dantonion seven years ago? Who thought he would have took a team to the Rose Bowl, win it, and go 12-1? I'd argue he's in a small group of the coaching elite at this point (but obviously that's hard to define). I was pretty inspired by his season last year. I think Bo can be Dantonio. I don't even think he's that far off. I think we're probably one outstanding QB away from doing what MSU did last season, this season (and that is NOT a disparaging Armstrong comment; I like Tommy). Did anybody really see Dantonio's success coming? No way. But he found it. Bo can find it in the same way too, from consistency (which he has) and consistently improving as a head coach (which he's clearly doing).

I find this video very relevant to your thesis.

You've been plainly shown multiple times why your comparison to Nebraska and the two Mississippi schools' programs is not an accurate one. The point you're making above is clear, but your original post didn't really make any sense.