PFF Grades of Wisconsin - MSU: A look forward to next week.
Some quotes from the article: http://tinyurl.com/j2v8moy
"The area where Horninbrook was most effective was against the blitz. On 10 dropbacks facing extra rushers, Hornibrook completed 7-10 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown."
"The Badgers gained 96 yards on 21 carries to the left of center compared to 30 yards on 16 carries to the right of center."
Top defensive grades:
OLB Vince Biegel 82.6
LB Jake Cichy 82.6
CB Sojourn Shelton 80.9
LB T.J. Edwards 80.0
OLB T.J. Watt 78.5
"O’Connor was constantly under duress in the game as he dealt with pressure on 51.1 percent of his dropbacks."
"Spartan offensive line struggled as a whole against the Badger’s stunts and defensive movement."
September 26th, 2016 at 9:58 AM ^
He was 7-10 against the blitz because MSU's secondary can't cover anything. We have corners who will be in their hip pockets all day and the blitz will either get home, or cause some poor throws, which a couple would likely be picked. That piece is the least of my worries for this game.
September 26th, 2016 at 10:14 AM ^
>>He was 7-10 against the blitz because MSU's secondary can't cover anything.
Generally true that MSU's DBs didn't look great ... but he did hit some small windows on really nice downfield passes a couple of times when he was facing pressure and the secondary was in the right place. Maybe not JD Lewis-level hip pocket coverage, but hardly blown assignments. And he nailed it.
Limited sample size, but he did do it.
That being said, I generally agree on your comment. I I think our DL introduces him to a whole new world of pain this week and he ends up looking a whole lot more like a rookie QB than he did last week.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:24 PM ^
I watched the entire MSU/Wisky game, and even when MSU brought pressure, I don't remember the QB getting hit/hurried very often.
The fumble/fumble recovery early in the game, Hornibrook stepped up into the pocket, and was unaware of the DT right next to him. And I remember a sack early in the 2nd half.
I'm looking forward to watching the "every snap" from that game, to really see how Wisconsin attacked MSU (and how weak MSU really is on the DL and secondary)
September 26th, 2016 at 10:01 AM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 10:08 AM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 10:09 AM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 10:18 AM ^
I dont know...
Wisconsin's scoring drives were:
- 28 yard TD drive
- 66 yd fumble return TD
- 1 play 5 yd TD
-16 play 65 yd FG drive
- 10 play 54 yd FG drive
If we don't turn the ball over, I don't see Wisconsin threatening often.
September 26th, 2016 at 11:10 AM ^
http://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=400869659
According to ESPN the 16 play 65 yard drive ended in a TD.
September 26th, 2016 at 11:28 AM ^
Thank you for correcting me.
Interestingly, that drive included Wisconsin going 2/4 on 3rd down, and 2/2 on 4th down conversions.
I stand by my main point.
September 27th, 2016 at 9:12 AM ^
Either way your point remains. Wisconsin capitalized on MSU's mistakes. If we play mistake free football I like our chances. Wisconsin strikes me as a fundamentally sound team that won't make many mistakes of their own.
September 26th, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^
Ultimately, this game will come down to how we handle the blitz pressure from Wisconsin, which will be the toughest we have faced so far.
September 26th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 10:36 AM ^
secure the ball and not give them good field position, I don't expect Wisky to score much against us. I think we will struggle some against their offense, but our staff is better at making adjustments. We will find their weakness and in the second half get a couple of scores to put the game away comfortably. Something along the lines of 27-10
September 26th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
They struggled at home against a GA State squad that is 0-3. I know they are the best team we will face up to this point, but I feel we are the better team. Our team will be ready to go. Trust in Harbaugh and company. This is not a Hoke coached team anymore. It's time to get over our Post Traumatic Hoke Disorder.
September 26th, 2016 at 11:18 AM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 12:15 PM ^
I posted in another thread that I would not be surprised to see CU win the PAC12 south. Mainly because they are the only team that actaully plays defense; don't play Washington and have Utah at home. Teams will score on them, but they are still ranked 18th in Total Defense.
Michigan put 45 on the board against them and 51 on UCF (who is 19th in total defense). While I do believe that Wisconsin has a better defense (currently 12th right behind us), they will not completely shut down our offense. They have not faced an offense like our (LSU - nope; Georgia St - nope; Akron - nope; MSU - nope)
Their pace of play also dictates their performance, I am pretty sure the in FFFF we will see that Wisconsin plays at a snails pace to shorten the game.
We get up on them by a couple of scores, that will start to make things uncomfortable for them.
Their offense is only averaging 3.94 yards per carry (not adjusted for sacks) and they are 75th overall. Their offense relies on ball control sustained drives..... Remind me again, who leads the nation in defensive 3rd down eff.?
I expect this to be a methodical game where our defense contains their offense and we win the specical teams battle (kick and punt return yardage) and just start methodically putting up points and pull away.
The only way they stay in the game is if we lose the turnover battle by more the -2.....
All data points are from NCAA stats page.....
September 26th, 2016 at 12:37 PM ^
They switched QBs during that game, so it's hard to gauge what would have happened if their current QB had started from Day 1.
September 26th, 2016 at 11:22 AM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 11:38 AM ^
Not scared of Wisconsin. I can't really say why, just a feeling.
September 26th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^
Wiscy-Sparty. I think it's a difficult game to get a grip on each side, and looking at the stats can be misleading. Yes Wiscy had some fumble and punter drop luck, but on each of those they would have had the ball on short fields. You can't just erase those scores, they likely would have put some points on each. 13 points? Maybe, maybe not.
I think you have to look at the proven themes of the game. O'Connor was awful, just terrible. The OL had some bad moments physically, but they weren't prepared for Wiscy blitzes. Sparty was out-coached as badly in this game as they out-coached ND the week before. Their D was OK.
Wiscy's OL looked OK. Their QB was calm and hit some outstanding throws (also fumbled on some lack of awareness). Wiscy's OLB are quite good. The rest of the defense hard-nosed, tough. Hard to guage DB's because they were in the right playcalls all day to disrupt Sparty's Offense.
September 26th, 2016 at 2:46 PM ^
Wisky outcoached MSU in that game, and it was evident that the road team came in with more energy and preparation.
I think the biggest match-up in the upcoming Michigan/Wisconsin game will be Wisky's front 7, but more importantly their edge rushers/OLB/hiding blitzers vs. our OL's ability to recognize blitz/block responsibilities and keeping Speight clean.