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zoobadger

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Everything posted by zoobadger

  1. Wisconsin has also largely sucked on a big stage. Rose Bowl lossess to TCU and Oregon. Losing last year to South Carolina. Close losses, the Badgers were competitive, and with a little luck each could have gone the other way; but other than some quality wins within the B1G, the Badgers haven't had a quality OOC win for many years. In the B1G we've beaten MSU/(you guys)/OSU, even when underdogs sometimes. But out of conference? Not so good. Edit: also, you should consider the possibility that Melvin Gordon is some sort of biblical punishment for past sins you guys have committed in Husker-land. I'm not a praying or a religious person, but you gotta wonder.... Double-edit: the awesome new hoops facility in Lincoln combined with the dramatic improvement of your basketball program suggests there's some competent people in your athletic department. What to do about Pelini is a conumdrum, but hastiness can lead from frying pan to the fire kind of results. Just ask the folks in Ann Arbor (or South Bend, for that matter).
  2. Pretty much describes the Badgers, too. Except that we lost to Northwestern.... The B1G is a mystery since we all pretty much sucked out of conference.
  3. Have you watched Wisconsin this year? Stave and McEvoy are pick machines. Also, Gordon has the fumbled the ball a couple times this year which is odd seeing as he'd never lost one in his career before. You might guarantee that but I sure won't. We can get turnovers from these guys. See this is my problem with all the fear of Wisconsin stuff. How many of you have actually watch Wisconsin really play this year? They had like 4 TO against NW that really helped them get beat. Maryland was playing most or all of the game without its QB and played probably their worst game of the year and Wisconsin played their best game. Yes they beat Rutgers 37-0, but part of the reason was that NU beat the crap out of them the week before. Nova couldn't even move and was out their playing. The Rutgers punter literally shanked 4 punts in a row giving Whisky the ball on the plus side of the field. Nebraska actually had about 200 more yards of offense against Rutgers than Wisconsin did. They are a good solid team, but nothing more. I didn't see them play and reading this makes me feel better. Our defense is so improved overall this year that I think we can contain them. I only worry about the stumbling offense. Hope they get on track. If they do, then we win. Wisconsin is much better than Rutgers and Maryland and slaughtered them. Those effortless wins do distinguish Wisconsin as one of the better teams in the conference. If you watched those games closely the takeaway is that the strength of the Badger team is its defense. The offense is dangerous, but one-dimensional; even if the passing game is improving. Skeptics among Badger fans feel that if a team of Nebraska's caliber sells out to stop the run, our weak passing game won't be good enough to compensate. Also, even rational Badger fans are not sold on Andy Ludwig, our OC. I tend to think that we'll really struggle to move the ball against Nebraska. Optimistic Badger fans think our defense is good enough that we can afford to have some problems on offense and still compete with a top notch team like Nebraska. But, we've dominated the weaker B1G teams, just as the Huskers have.... Edit: except for Northwestern. But that's like groundhog day. Every time Wisconsin goes to Evanston some weird, time-space discontinuity occurs, and a crappy Badger team from 1991 shows up to play the game... over and over and over.
  4. One thing we can all be sure of.... It's gonna be really cold in Madison next Saturday. I regret that some of these fast, skilled SEC teams can't be compelled to come up to Lincoln or Madison in the middle of November and play us. Wisconsin's utterly woeful passing game has progressed to less woeful/borderline effective. But when you nearly pee your pants with glee when completing a 3rd down pass against the likes of Purdue or Rutgers it's probably not a good sign. The Badger defense looks like the real deal, but we're thin. Lack of depth killed us against LSU when we lost two key guys in the 2nd half. Also, Stave was so mentally screwed up (the yips, reportedly) that he didn't even play. He's back to normal, now, although "normal" is admittedly a respectable backup for a top 15 team. lol.
  5. Clearly we need to do something to keep from getting beaten so badly on the outside, but they are also running right up the gut too. Rich ROdriguez ran his 3-3-5 against Wisconsin in 2008 and we had a huge come from behind win. Yep. I remember that game well. 32 point lead against the Hoosiers is not the same as 32 point lead against the Huskers. But the Badger D has been pretty stout all year unlike the inconsistent unit that got humiliated in Ann Arbor.
  6. Jeebus. Hard to compete when your opponent has been body snatched by football playing alien cyborgs. WTF. I don't recognize these guys. The Badgers are surely capable of blowing a 20 point lead, though. Not so sure about blowing a lead this large....
  7. Tell me more about how Wisconsin has lost multiple games in overtime this season. Edit: snipped the wrong part of the quote. That's some careful snipping. I think I pointed out in another thread that Wisconsin's obvious failure to seal the deal in close games is an ill omen for their chances tomorrow. But I stil can't help coming over here and suggesting the faint possibility that a loose Badger squad with nothing to lose, and healthy for the first time all year, might have a little emotional advantage. I'm a typical underdog fan grasping at straws, admittedly. You guys will be doing the same thing in a few weeks when you're a 7 point dog in the Rose Bowl. We'll need you guys to get beat on the DL for us to win. That's the bottom line. Stacking ten in the box has worked for every other decent team in the B1G (albeit barely) so it should work for you again tomorrow. And I'll be pulling for you guys in the Rose Bowl if that's the way it ends up.
  8. I don't see how Wisconsin can't respect NU--they basically are a carbon copy of the Huskers of the 80s, led by a Husker alum, wearing Husker colors In my experience Badger fans totally respect Nebraska. First of all, the architecht of our program, Barry Alvarez learned everything he knows under Bob Devaney and has successfully implemented the same model at Wisconsin. Second, as you point out, you guys are all about hard-nosed football. Run the ball, play good defense, focus on the fundamentals, and it's about winning: not style points. But there are dumbasses in every fan-base, and Wisconsin has their fair share.
  9. I don't take "intangibles" very seriously, but to the extent they matter, they tend to favor Wisconsin for this reason. NU has to win this game or it's embarrassing, heartbreaking, and just plain kick in the nuts humiliating. Wisconsin, on the other hand, can just go out, hang it all out there, have fun and if the ball bounces their way they just might get back to Camp Randall West in Pasadena (lol). Again, these guys have been playing football every week since they were six years old so I don't think the pressure and the hype is a big factor. But in a close game, I guess it could arguably work to Wisconsin's favor. Edit: the better team typically wins football games, and right now, the Huskers certainly look like a better team. I don't want anybody to think I'm predicting a Badger win, just saying that there are some rays of hope for the Badger fans.
  10. Curt Philips is a gamer. He's a tough kid whose battled a lot of injuries (3 ACL's on the same knee) but at this point, he's not a quality B1G QB. To make matters worse, we've really only got one guy who's a threat to get open and catch the ball. I, personally, think our TE (Pederson) would be a bigger part of the offense if we had a more capable QB, but Abrederis is really our only consistent threat at WR. This, plus our sh**ty kicker, accounts for the 7 - 5 record. If our kicker unaccountably got better (the game is indoors, that might help) and if we can possibly get Pedersen more involved in the passing game, that could make a big difference. I'd rather be you guys going into this game than us, but Wisconsin's not Indiana, Purdue, or Iowa, either. You can't make a lot of mistakes on top of being dinged up and expect to win this one easily. Wisconsin is healthy for a change, too, particularly on the DL where we've had to substitute a lot.
  11. Being down two DL would probably matter less against some spread team where you're going to have extra guys in for pass coverage constatnly. Against Wisconsin, you'll be stacking the middle of the field and if one or two interior guys is getting beat all day, it's a huge advantage for the Badgers. But, Wisconsin has only one receiver who can catch and get open, our QB is inexperienced and that's a charitable assessment, and our placekicker sucks. So, for the Badgers to win, you'll need to be weaker against the rush than OSU, MSU, and PSU who pretty much stuffed us in the 2nd half. The bad news, though, is you'll only need to be *a little* weaker since all three of those were overtime losses. One or two plays where Montee or James White gets loose in the secondary and those are wins. Actually, those would have been wins if we had a kicking game, too All in all though, Wisconsin has proven it can't win close games. The Huskers have hung on to win several nail biters so the smart money is obviously on the boys from Lincoln.
  12. One thing I think both fan bases can agree on: those unis suck, lol....
  13. Being the best team in the B1G this year is sort of like bragging about being the tallest midget in the circus. But, yes, I think the Huskers are probably the best team in the conference right now, except for maybe Ohio State who are ineligible.
  14. It doesn't matter that much. The Badger O-line is a work in progress at best, we're starting an RS frosh who really has only one reliable receiver, the players are still learning the new coaching staff's offense, and Gordon and White would probably start for anybody else in the conference, anyway. In other words, our offense would struggle equally with Ball at 100%. You guys have a pretty good shot at getting a dose of revenge from last year. That said, the Badgers did show some improvement on Saturday, but still.....
  15. Unless the Badgers suddenly and dramatically improve on offense, 12 points sounds about right to me. The Badger defense has been better than I expected, but we've truly been woeful at times on the other side of the ball. And we're dinged on on the defensive line to make matters worse. Even if the Badgers had lived up to expectations, I'm sure many of us figured the night game in Lincoln was going to be a real tough game to win. I hope we keep it close, continue to show some improvement, and move on. One observation, though, is that White and Gordon are very good. Losing Montee Ball is probably not all that costly. It's the one position where we have lots of depth.
  16. You guys will surely get even with us in Lincoln later on, and maybe in the B1G championship this year. And I have a feeling you'll all feel better after you kicking OSU's ass while they're down next week. They get some of the suspended players back, but they probably won't be at full strength until we face them in the Shoe later on.
  17. Win or lose it'll be fun to check back here as the season wears on. Hope you guys have a good first year in the Big Ten (other than Saturday night obviously). And I hope that the B1G stays at 12 because you guys are a perfect fit, and adding Texas or some other far-flung "star" program would throw off the lunchpail, Midwestern vibe that Makes the Big Ten special. Also, I'm relieved that you guys are visiting Madison at night rather than the other way around. I suspect that in spite of all the X's and O's, it's still a bunch of kids out there, and home field advantage is probably good for 7 points in this contest.
  18. I'd say there are two keys: first prevent the Badger running game from getting on track early. Then, get enough pressure on RW to keep him from checking off to his 2nd and 3rd receiver. I guess that's kind of obvious, but when the Badgers lose, that's how it happens. So, in short, I'm agreeing with you but especially emphasizing the fact that your defense is the key to beating us.
  19. zoobadger

    Toon

    this is pretty unfair. nick toon deserves all the credit for the way he's started this year and it has more to do with him being healthy for once more than it has to do with RW. I don't think RW helped him out on that one handed catch he made in the first quarter last week or that tip-toe down the sideline touchdown. I don't mean to imply that Toon isn't NFL material, just that his prospects for getting a good initial contract at the next level are greatly improved by RW's outstanding play.
  20. zoobadger

    Toon

    Russell Wilson has made Toon look really good. If Toon gets a decent payday in the NFL, he needs to remember to buy RW's kids nice presents on their birthdays for the rest of his life, lol.
  21. Good point, but Arizona State last year was far far better than anyone Wisconsin has played this year. They had to be the best 6-6 team in the country. They were a hair's breath away from being 9-3, iirc. In one of their games they had a kick returner get tackled at the 1yd line with 0:00 at half-time and lost that game by 1 point. Wisconsin redshirts a lot of guys and relies heavily on player development. They don't recruit a lot of 5 star kids who are ready to see the field immediately. So, presumably, the strategy is to play a weaker NC schedule so that the youngsters can make their rookie mistakes without costing the team an opportunity to play in a decent bowl. The difference this year is 1) weaker NC opponents than ever, and 2) a lot of depth and returning players on offense plus, obviously, Russel Wilson. Normally if you've got a respectable DL you can put ten guys in the box against the Badgers and keep it close. Cal Poly, though, nearly beat us in November, but that was just a bad team by recent standards. They laid an egg against a crappy Florida State team a few weeks later.
  22. If you're wondering why a Badger fan might be a little more humble than, say, an Oklahoma or Ohio State fan, look no further than the link below. In particular, look at the years between 1985 and 1992. http://www.jhowell.n...s/Wisconsin.htm
  23. You're correct about Wisconsin deliberately playing a weak non-conference schedule, but totally wrong about us "looking great doing it." In fact, the Badgers' effortless march through the NC portion of the schedule in 2011 is unprecedented. 2010 - beat a 6-6 Arizona State team by one point. But for a missed XP and a game saving tackle on a KR the Badgers lose at home. 2010 - beat a 1-12 San Jose State team 27 - 14. Yeah, the game was never really in doubt but anybody watching certainly doubted the Badger's top-15 pre-season ranking. 2009 - beat a 7-6 Northern Illinois team 28 - 20 and looked pretty weak doing it. 2009 - beat an 8-5 Fresno State squad 38 - 35. And in all three of the games cited so far the Badgers got a decent lead and let the opponent climb back in. This is a contributing factor to Bielema's subsequent tendency to RUTS. 2008 - again barely snuck past Fresno State 13 - 10 2008 - needed a miracle and missed XP to beat CAL POLY. Nope, you did not read that wrong. On 11/22 the Badgers came within a hair of losing to FCS team Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo. in 2007 we struggled to beat UNLV and (egads) Citadel. in 2006 a 4-8 Bowling Green team led at the half. And lots of similar near disasters in prior years including losses to UNLV and Fresno State.
  24. Even some mediocre Badger teams have come up big in Camp Randall at night. For example, the Matt Shabert/Lee Evans win over tOSU and the John Stocco beats Michigan on a QB draw game. Very, very tough way to start play in the B1G: at night in CR against a very good Badger squad.
  25. Whaddya mean they're going to "struggle for a while?" Nebraska's the odds-on favorite to win their division and is entering conference play during an obvious down year for the B1G. OSU is reeling from NCAA sanctions, Michigan is still rebuilding after the RichRod debacle, Indiana and the Gophers are losing to Mac teams or worse, Purdue just flat-out sucks, Iowa lost to Iowa State, and Illinois looked vulnerable against Western Michigan on Saturday. PSU's coach is 150 years old, Northwestern as always is a minor bowl team with more heart than talent, and Michigan State has been snake-bit with injuries so far. On the contrary, Nebraska has provided the stumbling Big Ten with a shot in the arm.
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