qb oh noes

So you may have heard bad things about Wisconsin's offense. Through three games, Wisconsin is averaging a measly 19 points per game. The Badgers are also 1-2 on the season and reeling as we head into this weekend's marquee matchup with the Wolverines. What's going on, you may ask? The answer to that question is what your author set out to uncover with this post. Is it just the quarterback? Or is it an uncharacteristically bad offensive line? Or maybe the lack of another successor to the Ron Dayne/Montee Ball/Jonathan Taylor succession of superstar RB's that the coaches in Madison sculpt out of sausage and cheese? Well, gang, let's find out: 

The Film: Before we get started, I have a confession: I am somewhat selfish. And in choosing the film for this post, I put my own convenience high on the totem pole for reasons behind picking a particular game. There's an absence of discernible differences between the way that PSU and Notre Dame play (and in terms of team quality), so in order to pick one over the other, I tabbed Penn State so that I can re-use that same film for Michigan's battle against the Lions later in the season (Wisconsin is a good analogue for Michigan when it comes to breaking down PSU). So, that's what we're rolling with, the 16-10 Penn State victory in Madison back in Week 1. And it was quite the interesting game, as you will see. 

Personnel: The chart. 

Wisconsin is starting the embattled Graham Mertz at QB, who gets a huge portion of this post dedicated to him. Clemson transfer Chez Mellusi is the starting RB for Wisconsin, getting the majority of the carries in this game. Last year's starter Jalen Berger, who I was pegging as a breakout player pre-season, has gone MIA in games of consequence. He didn't touch the field in the game I watched, and got a lone carry against ND last weekend. In between he got 15 carries against EMU in week two. Isaac Guerrendo seems to be the backup RB in the games that matter. Wisconsin still uses a FB, because of course, and John Chenal is their starter at that position, being used mostly as a blocker, but also for the trusty FB dive in their short-yardage situations. 

At TE they lean heavily on Jake Ferguson, who is Mertz's safety valve option, not breaking many long catches but being targeted often. Jack Eschenbach is used heavily in two TE sets, but is not targeted much as a receiving threat. Clay Cundiff is another TE option who has a pair of chunk catches this season and sees the field a decent bit. 

The WR's are not lacking in options but are lacking in a standout threat. Danny Davis III, who has been a viable option for the Badgers since what feels like 1975, leads the team in catches. Kendric Pryor is in a similar boat, third on the team in catches and presumably with a long gray beard to indicate his age. Pryor is also used as a jet sweep threat in the running game. The catches drop off substantially after that, but Chimere Dike, whose name is not pronounced the way it looks like, sees the field often. He just hasn't caught many passes. Jack Dunn has played quite a bit but is yet to collect a catch. AJ Abbott has a lone catch so I guess I'll throw his name out there, but it's really Davis, Pryor, Dike, and Dunn to talk about. 

On the offensive line, they have a set five man unit of Tyler Beach at LT, Josh Seltzner at LG, Joe Tippmann at C, Jack Nelson at RG, and Logan Bruss at RT. They bring interior linemen Kaden Lyles (last year's starter at C), Cormac Sampson and Michael Furtney on in the beef packages, and former blue chip OT Logan Brown has played some on the outside as well. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: What's up with Wisconsin's offense?]

FORMATION NOTES: Michigan didn't do anything particularly unusual. Everything was from the gun, and much of it featured two tight ends. This has Ben Mason as a wing TE:

I tried to file Mason as a RB because I think that's a better representation of what Michigan can do when he's on the field but I may have missed some snaps like this where he's lined up at TE.

Minnesota spent virtually the whole night in this 4-3 over, frequently with a standup end. Probably! This game featured extreme pore-o-vision and it was at times difficult to tell who was on the field.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Milton, then McNamara briefly, at QB. RB was a near-equal rotation between Corum, Haskins, Charbonnet, and Evans. There were a few snaps with two RBs and one wildcat snap.

At WR, another blender. Sainristil, Wilson, Bell, Johnson, and Jackson all got a significant number of snaps. AJ Henning and Jake McCurry made cameos. McCurry was mostly out there for the heavy package.

At TE/FB, All got a large majority of the snaps, probably 80%. Mason was in for ~50% of them; Schoonmaker and gussied-up OL Joel Honigford got maybe a dozen each. 6'8" beanpole walk-on Carter Selzer got in for a snap.

OL was Hayes/Filiaga/Vastardis/Stueber/Mayfield as expected. Zinter got a little time when Stueber got dinged; Barnhart got the last handful of snaps at LT. Second team OL appears to be Barnhart/Korican/Carpenter/Zinter/Jones.

[After THE JUMP: smoooooooth]

Redshirts.

Hey Brian,

The media has made a big deal about the 12 freshmen that have already played this season, mainly viewing it as a sign that the team is in bad shape.  I think it's mainly because the 2012 recruiting class was so good, not because the returning players are performing poorly.

Guys like Funchess, Norfleet and James Ross would find some playing time on most teams.  I don't see many Ray Vinopals out there - players only burning a redshirt because the depth chart at the position is a tire fire.  Yet another interpretation is that it is a reflection of Brady Hoke's philosophy which differs from past coaches. I recall that you didn't expect so many to play.  How did you interpret the situation?

Best,
Mike Forster
Class of 2005

The twelve who have seen the field grouped into categories:

JUST THAT GOOD: Norfleet (at least in the context of KR), Funchess.
STANDARD-ISSUE GROOMING: Darboh, Wilson, Pipkins
GROOMING TOO BUT PROMINENCE IS WORRYING: Bolden, Ross
BAD SIGNS: Williams, Ojemudia, Richardson.
WTF: Jenkins-Stone, Houma.

Ideally you wouldn't have Demens's job under threat in his third year as a starter, wouldn't be playing a true freshman blocking TE who was a tackle last year, and would tell Ojemudia and Richardson to eat a bunch of lard and talk to me when you've put on 30 pounds. Everyone else is about what you'd expect.

I'm not surprised most of these guys are all seeing time. I thought Ojemudia would be forced onto the field because of Clark's issues; those turned out to be less severe than they might have been but Beyer's injury still forced M's hand there. After I predicted a redshirt in Richardson's recruiting profile, Michigan saw two corners leave the team and a third go down for the year, plus Avery has/had back issues. They need to have him out there. With four corners in the next recruiting class they don't absolutely need to have him get that fifth year.

The two real surprises are RJS and Houma, but while they're irritatingly burning redshirts so they can watch Matt Wile pound kickoffs into the endzone their presence on special teams doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

[after the jump: more redshirts! sexy packaged plays! A dinosaur!]