Beau Benzschawel
Beware of Big Beau Benscha.... Benzwashwe...Benzchwae....the right guard. [Patrick Barron]

Fee Fi Foe Film: Wisconsin Offense 2018 Comment Count

Seth October 11th, 2018 at 9:05 AM

Resources: My charting, UW game notes, UW roster, Bill C profile, CFBstats

Jim Harbaugh's offense is rare in this age of spread. He loves to use extra tight ends, fullbacks, and offensive linemen dressed as tight ends to extend the line of scrimmage, creating more gaps than the defense has competent run defenders to cover. Harbaugh also probably finds the heaviness of Paul Chryst's offense excessive.

Four years into Chryst's return to Madison and the meatball transformation is complete. Its engine, as per usual, is an offensive line that averages over 320 pounds, benches more than their pickup trucks, and goes eight deep with all-conference candidates before roll call gets to the fifth letter of the alphabet. They're grabby, mean, way more intelligent than all the memes about them, and mostly impenetrable in pass protection.

Behind them is man for this time and place. A man who believes he can shoot a football into a pinhole. A man turned on by the undulations of a rill.

Behind that man, that rarest of North American endangered species: A fullback.

Behind him, a patient discerning connoisseur of bespoke gaps.

The film: Sure we'd all like to have seen how BYU pulled it off, but are we BYU or are we Kinnick at Night? Iowa could have won this too if they hadn't fumbled away two punts.

Personnel: My diagram:

image

PDF version, full-size version (or click on the image)

Wisconsin returned everybody but the tight end and fullback from last year. The latter had a proper heir apparent in FB Alex Ingold. The former however has been replacement by committee, which committee includes blocky-blocky-catchy TE Kyle Pennison, and catchy-flexy freshman TE Jake Ferguson (last year's quasi-second starter Zander Nueville is out for the season), and several backup offensive linemen in high numbers.

They're also facing Michigan again without their burly star WR Quintez Cephus, who's embroiled in a sexual assault accusation he's contesting as if he's either extremely innocent or extremely not. Flanker/Jet motion guy A.J. Taylor has maintained his highly efficient 12 yards per target from last year. Sophomore split end Danny Davis III is at 8 YPT and a 73% catch rate but strangely hasn't been used as much as the far less efficient slot Kendric Pryor. The real third down threat is Ferguson, Barry Alvarez's grandson, who's got 10 YPT and the second-most targets to Taylor. They also like to throw to slippery third down back Garrett Groshek, a quasi-slot receiver who seems to be reserved for shotgun snaps. When Taylor needs a breather they have RB Taiwan Deal back from the injury that knocked him out for 2017. Deal is a pure mooseback.

If it's not a passing down however, you're unlikely to see more than AJ Taylor from the last paragraph. The great RB Jonathan Taylor has started to get some use as a receiver this season, Ingold can catch more than fullbackian passes in the flat. They rarely throw at Pennison, and three different backup OL charted in this game in addition to the starting five. Play-action passes are sprinkled in with equal parts cunning and reticence, and are mostly America's Favorite Rollout to make sure your OLBs and safeties don't come down to interrupt Wisconsin's 9-minute turns.

The line is the vintage Wisconsin line. RT (Hornibrooks's blind side) David Edwards is a 1st rounder on most boards. He's a wall in pass protection, and a bulldozer on the run. RG Beau Benzschawel is a peak Wisconsin guard, a little too stiff to get NFL types excited but massive, leaning, smart, and quick enough to be a massive pain and their best run blocker. C Tyler Biadasz is a thick run-blocker with savvy beyond his years but arms that can get him in trouble versus a serious pass rusher. LG Michael Dieter has finally found his home inside after playing C and LT over a long starting career. And LT Jon Dietzen is a punishing run blocker who splits time with promising sophomre LT Cole Van Lanen, who's as grabby as any Badger OT I've seen. Not that it matters against Michigan but they all have their hands outside their defenders' arms pretty much every play. The Packers do this too. Other states should legalize it since it seems to be working.

[after THE JUMP: Randy Rivers and the Tight, Tight Windows]

Spread, Pro-Style, or Hybrid? This question does not apply, since "Pro-Style" today means a passing spread most similar to Northwestern's offense. Wisconsin is what a normal, non-option offense looked like in the 1980s except with 1,000 more pounds on the field.

Formation   Personnel   Playcall
Down Gun I-form Ace/Bone Wildcat   Avg WRs   Pass PA RPO Run
1st 6 16 6 -   1.86   7 2 - 20
2nd 10 5 9 -   2.12   6 1 - 17
3rd 11 1 2 1   2.53   9 1 - 5
Total 40% 32% 26% 2%   2.10   32% 6% - 62%

Their version of the Flexbone is quite different from the Maryland version:

vlcsnap-2018-10-09-22h47m52s439

That's two receivers on the line of scrimmage, an offensive linemen wearing #96, and an H-back they've thrown at just twice this year as the flex guys. No, they didn't jet motion out of this except the one time.

Differentiating between the above and a formation I charted as "Ace Heavy" is splitting hairs, but they did this a lot, with three tight ends (one of them often an extra OL) extending the offensive front:

vlcsnap-2018-10-09-23h55m04s998

Sometimes they're literally 7 linemen.

image

This was the end-around (to a receiver off to the right) by the way.

Basketball on Grass or MANBALL? Another bad question, because this is really asking if they run outside zone or power as their base running play in addition to inside zone, and if that's the case they're Basketball on Grass, but, like, we're talking basketball with five Robert Traylors.

image

Tractor Tractor Tractor Tractor Tractor MUSHROOM MUSHROOM

The running game's breakdown was 22 variants of inside zone, 7 power plays (mostly counter trey), 5 outside zones, 4 fullback things, 2 draws, and 2 end-arounds.

Hurry it up or grind it out? Grinding is too slow for a team that's 116th out of 130 teams in Bill C's adjusted pace, where anyone past them believes in the Church of Time of Possession and isn't getting as many first downs. The announcers brought out the word "Slobberknocker" to describe this game.

Ten years ago it was en vogue for us internet smartypants to make fun of time of possession. Today, when math is an appreciated academic discipline at most accredited universities, scientists can more readily admit the psychological advantage to be gained from holding onto the ball for 30 minutes of real time. Wisconsin had drives in this game of 8, 11, 7, 6, 9, and 10 plays, and they don't run that many different plays. By the time you're at your 30 you can't remember a time when you weren't stopping outside zone, or counter trey, or inside zone with a TE insert, or inside zone with a jet fake. Is the 340-pound man wearing #89 the same as the guy wearing #95 a minute ago? Was having the ball just a dream? Wasn't there a DT next to you at some point? Is Jonathan Taylor ever going to cut or are we just going to stay in this shield wall all day?

Quarterback Dilithium Level (Scale: 1 [Navarre] to 10 [Denard]): People said I was unkind when I gave Hornibrook a 2 last year. Then he was run down by Bryan Mone. 2.

Zook Factor: Dude:

vlcsnap-2018-10-10-00h52m14s171

I get that these teams were trading 11-play Ishtar drives with 1950s formations but let's go over the five punting decisions that Wisconsin made that weren't a) Obvious punting situations, and b) Fumbled right back to them by Iowa (it happened twice!)

  • 4th & 2 at IOWA 46: Bounced out of bounds at the Iowa 23 (23 yards)
  • 4th & 3 at IOWA 44: Fair caught at the 12 (32 yards)
  • 4th & 3 at IOWA 49: Downed at the 15 (34 yards)
  • 4th & 4 at IOWA 44: Fair caught at the 15 (29 yards)
  • 4th & 7 at WIS 48: Fair caught at the 3 (45 yards because Iowa is dumb)

The second 4th and 3 is the one capped above, down 3 in the 4th quarter, when Wisconsin hadn't gotten less than 5 yards on a run play in forever. Indeed Iowa was stopped, punted the Badgers back 50 yards, Wisconsin came back 4th and 4 on the 44, and punted again. Chryst should keep punting because it's working for him. He ignored the Iowa fans cheering when he sent out the punt team above and he won the game so he must be correct.

Dangerman: If I said I'm not afraid of RB Jonathan Taylor he would rip off 400 yards against Michigan so I won't be saying that and I won't be removing the shield that he gets for being an All-American candidate and competition for Barkley for all-B1G last year. But can I suggest he's not the GREATEST running back ever? Like last year and in this year's HTTV I compared him to every Wisconsin running back since 1990. He does possess many of their qualities. But he's LeVeon Bell, not Saquon Barkley.

Except Taylor is more LeVeon Bell than Bell ever was. Most of the time, he is just super super patient. He reads his blocking very well, and against Iowa's stout front that meant downshifting and staying put for a second or more while the Five Tractors got enough push to provide a crease.

Once he's got some momentum, he's going to get at least four yards no matter who contacts him. The play is over, and then he gets two more yards.

His best attribute is the ability to downshift and upshift again faster than a defender can get set. This was an interesting "Wham" (fullback replaces a linemen) play with a couple of folds that worked because Iowa wasn't prepared for it, but JT turned it into a big gainer by first letting his hole develop a little more, then down-up shifting on an unblocked safety when he got to the 2nd level.

Safeties who fling themselves at his legs are not going to get him down. I caught one bad bounce that lost him a couple of yards when going forward would get 2 or 3.

The other real star of this offense is going to need a…

HenneChart:

Wisconsin vs Iowa Good   Neutral   Bad   Ovr
Quarterback DO CA SCR   PR MA   BA TA IN BR   DSR PFF
Alex Hornibrook 9 10(2) -   1 -   - 1 1 2   82% 92.0

Ol' Randy Rivers was deadly in this one, with PFF rating this week's performance higher even that Trace McSorley's against Ohio State. This isn't unusual for Mr. Tight Windows, however neither was the competition.

Alex Hornibrook leads all Big Ten quarterbacks in overall season grade as he has been the example of quarterback play seemingly game in and game out. Despite the lone blemish on his record against BYU, Hornibrook has put together three game grades over 90.0 and even in the loss to the Cougars, was subjected to four dropped passes by his receivers, nearly half of his season total (9) to date.

He takes what the defense gives him and throws to the spot where only his receivers can bring in the ball repeatedly. In fact, 54.6% of his passes are targeted past the line to gain, the second-highest figure in the Big Ten and only 35.3% of his passing yards have come after the catch, which is the second-lowest percentage.

A caveat: As you can see from the chart, that vaunted pass rush only generated two events. Iowa's pass defense relies on its pass rush so the offensive line's excellent protection, helped by plenty of play-action, allowed Hornibrook to survey and pick his spots in Iowa's zone coverage. Those spots were plantations compared to what Hornibrook usually throws into. Iowa has Mario's Ojemudia's brother and like Mario the brother is a good tackler in space who's good enough in coverage to drop into a linebacker zone. The problem is they have Mario's brother playing cornerback.

CB at the bottom of the screen

Last year Hornibrook's nondiscerning eye generated a lot of interceptions, but he's cut way down on those so far. That might be an anomaly:

That tight end, Ferguson, doesn't drop many and probably only lost this one because that Iowa LB got half a fingernail on it. It also highlights Hornibrook's dead-on-balls accuracy.

He doesn't always have to be—Wisconsin runs so much, their offensive line is so experienced, and their skill position players are so extremely blocky that their play-action is maximally deceptive. Like I just told you this is play-action and for a hot second you're still going to think I posted the wrong link:

The part that scares me the most about Hornibrook is he makes use of the receiver's full route. You may have the right coverage called, but his receivers are trained to keep their eyes on Hornibrook more than where they're going, and that leads to a lot of backyard passes that nobody would ever draw on a whiteboard:

It was particularly effective against Iowa because their cover 2 cornerbacks are built to come in and out of contact with receivers, not stay with them. But it works as well on any cornerback playing man, because staying all over these kinds of throws means leaving yourself wide open to the kind of pass interference Jane Coaston wants to run as a base play.

OVERVIEW:

I've been saying every week this season that Michigan's defense is a bad matchup for their various opponents: too athletic for Notre Dame's WRs to body, too fast and savvy for Maryland's and Nebraska's goofball tricks, too talented in the secondary for SMU's and WMU's fades, too good at pass rushing for Clayton Thorson to West Coast his way through his progressions.

"We're a bad matchup for them" was a good line but smart readers/listeners knew it was meaningless unless I gave a point of comparison. Wisconsin is that example of an opponent who's well suited to take advantage of the holes in Michigan's defense. Hornibrook is not the guy you want throwing to those six inches of slant space Michigan's base Cover 1 leaves open by alignment. Taylor is the wrong back to play against when your WLB is undersized and eager to take a shot at a gap. A fullback like Ingold and offensive linemen who raided the DL's dressing room are the wrong kind of skill position players for a linebacker corps recruited and trained to snuff out spread offenses. They're the wrong offensive line to come up against when your defensive tackle depth is down to a freshman and walk-ons.

Michigan last year was able to mostly hold up against their rushing attack with most of these same players. Unfortunately Brian only got as far as the offensive UFR before Henri the Otter of Ennui took over, so I don't have a detailed account of how that happened. My memory unfortunately is saying "Mo Hurst" and "Aubrey Solomon's coming out party" and "this was the game McCray was made for" before recalling some ref shenanigans that I'd managed to bury. I think there was a slot fade, and one long run for Taylor that took his YPC from 3 to 7. Quick rewatch of that and I think Mone was also excellent.

It's going to be a unique challenge. No frills. Not much frippery. They're just very big, they emphasize the bigness, and they play a soft schedule against a lot of teams that don't have the time or resources to train up a Tongan terror at nose or LBs who won't get caved by a bouncer in a Terrell Owens jersey.

Michigan's strength and conditioning program and few weeks of rest for the damaged DL will either be enough to stop them, or it won't. When a team can't keep up with the strength of Wisconsin, their defense will start flinging its smaller bodies at anything that moves, hoping to make up for an average size difference of 60 pounds with 60 minutes of sacrifice. That's when they go play-action, finding the cracks in your zones, waiting for that split second of weakness in your man coverage to hit that square inch you can't possibly defend. Their lefty quarterback is not afraid to find that inch, because nobody in college expects to have to defend it. He's not afraid of pressure, because it never comes. He's not afraid to admit his prurience for fast-moving bodies of water, because in Wisconsin it's finally '90s!

Like the running game, stopping their passing attack will come down to whether Michigan's athletes are that much better than those the Badgers have picked on thus far. Because Hornibrook doesn't think too long when he spots a window, the interceptions are there for the taking if you've got guts to bait him and the ability to get there and grab it:

Don Brown's squad has already passed a number of tough challenging academic challenges along the way. This week we'll see how they fare in Phys Ed.

Comments

dragonchild

October 11th, 2018 at 3:01 PM ^

I actually feel pretty good about the matchups.  I'm just terrified about "football".

If Hornibrook goes off, there is nothing any defense in the world can do to stop an accurate QB that's dealin'.  Gary can play but his shoulder seems to be sapping his hand speed and that's going to matter against a grabby O-line like Wisconsin's, and we know we can't rely on the refs to call holding.  You get the idea.

So yet again, I'm worried Michigan will outplay the crap out of an opponent but a combination of bad officiating and dumb luck will be the difference.

Mojo Hall

October 11th, 2018 at 10:28 AM ^

Good summary. Keep in mind that Don Brown has a pretty good track record against Wisconsin.  Last years's numbers were inflated because of the punt return and MI's Offense failing to do anything.  The year before that the D gave up seven points.  Furbush probably replaces Ross/Gil on quite a few downs.  Mone was made for games like this so he stays on the field in more packages against the run.  Kemp will be back.  I think people still have nightmares about Wisconsin running 28 times in a row against Rich Rod's D.  That was 2010.

dragonchild

October 11th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^

I think a lot of the thread dread is over Brown's roster of rocket-powered squirrels built to stop OSU.  Wisconsin's going to grab our undersized front 7 and push them back all day.  The problem with this assumption is that it implies Brown's defenses are content to sit back and get grabbed, although I concede Mone will have his work cut out for him.

Brown solves his problems with aggression.  A single TFL can endanger a Wiscy drive, and Brown's Ds are consistently among the best in the country at havoc.  Sure, Wisconsin's offense will march down the field IF all goes according to their plan, but FWIW Brown's career is built on blowing up others' designs.  Michigan winning a drive will play out like 1st and 10, 2nd and 2 (Taylor run), 3rd and 9 (TFL), 4th and Zook.

In other words, fans anticipate seeing a fleet outfighter going up against a mouth-smashing infighter and getting cornered or worn down.  This is really more like brawler vs. infighter -- Brown is going to fire his big guns (Bush, Chase, Hudson) into gaps in order to meet the football in the backfield, not give Hornibrook time to throw, and use Taylor's patience against him.  Can't say it'll work, but Brown will have plans of his own.

Mgoczar

October 11th, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^

So have they truly destroyed teams? No. Nebraska gained good yards on them and a play here or there then its 41-31 type of game. They lost to BYU. Barely beat Iowa who gifted them STUPID turnovers of their own doing (not a Wiscy player "making a play")

Tough game sure. But this is no Juggernaut. Play assignment football and lets see those S&C gaiiinzz do their thing. If our D tires out, well then our Offense needs to do the same to their depleted D. And I think we are hitting stride at the right time. 

Stop making them seem like Alabama. And stop acting scared at the moment some one competent shows up. Use the homefield advantage and execute. I expect an M win. 

stephenrjking

October 11th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^

The players aren't making them seem like Alabama and they're not acting scared (I saw them in person last year, on the road, as a worse team, and they were absolutely equal to the challenge). 

It doesn't matter what fans think. We're free to be terrified. As long as the players practice and believe, they're fine.

Mgoczar

October 11th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^

So why are fans? Why the negativity? It is the BPONE

Read previous Nebraska and Maryland previews. Unreal the amount of "oh hey this may be a 11-10 game." or hey these guys are great and M will be sludgefarting this one.  

I choose to believe - like the team does I'm sure - that M is the superior team and playing at Home. Lets beat these badgers. 

Here is a hot take: M rushes for more yards than W. So beating them at their own game. 

Go blue. 

LeCheezus

October 11th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^

Last year did a number on this fanbase and MGoStaff's confidence level.  Witness lack of UFR for last few games, "Whatever" post, constant "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude in threads, etc.  It's the year of the BPONE and the reversal process is still ongoing.

Also, if you ever listen to Steve Clark on WTKA Midweek Peek he is largely the same way- acts like every team we play is going to give us a game or makes them seem much better than they are (IMO).

Mgoczar

October 11th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^

Yea you make great points. Its just that we are so damaged that we keep moving goal posts. M wins something like 30-17 or something and we will say ...well its Wisconsin, the team that lost to BYU, so lets see if we beat MSU (never mind that that team won on the most improbable play in 2015. Sigh) or PSU etc. 

I don't know about many here (seems like heavy incumbents in BPONE) that the way Shea slings is just hasn't happened since Harbaugh arrived other than Rudoccckkk against florida when he threw bombs to Chesson. Other than that one game, long balls/PA jsut hasn't happened (heck as far back as Henne). Shea has thrown a bomb in nearly every game. Heck even in ND game he passed to Nico. Stuff like that and I'm confident this offense moves the ball. When you can score points Hornibrook will feel pressured to produce and the Defense can feed off of that to rattle him. 

M pulls a good one and hopefully pulls some fans out of BPONE. 

LeCheezus

October 11th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^

In year one of Harbaugh, we outperformed the team talent IMO, and had a peek talent year in 2016 that had just about every coin flip go against them, but the general direction of everything seemed to be trending up.  Coming in to 2017 I think there was a lot of "sweeping under the rug" of potential problem areas among the fanbase (not just here on MGoBlog).  The staff had improved everyone through the first two years and everyone expected that to continue.  The Drevno/Frey disaster coupled with a lack of dedicated WR coach was IMO the biggest reason for last year's issues, the QB struggles were just insult to injury (injury to injury? injury to insult?).  The preview here famously stated "2016 Amara Darboh = 2017 Kekoa Crawford," which of course isn't how things worked out. 

As the year slowly went down hill, it seemed like our coaches couldn't coach and nobody would get better.  The ND game this year turned those sentiments into facts for a lot of people, who have largely ignored the last 5 games or continued to move the goalposts after the game (Nebraska is a legit team [pregame]....Nebraska is TERRIBLE [post game]).

Michigan may very well lose this game.  It's college football, the standard deviation of team performance from week to week can be quite extreme.  However, no team with 4 OL "Dangermen" and a backfield full of "Dangermen" should ever lose to a bad BYU team at home. 

TheLastStraw

October 11th, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^

Out of curiosity, are there any particular types of blitzes that seem like they would be particularly likely to work? It sounds like if we just line up and let the big guys mash, we might not come out on top. It sounds like one of the reasons Hornibrook has looked so good is that he is not worried about looking for pressure, he just knows it's not going to come. We need to find a way to put him on his but a couple times early in the game so his clock is running fast and he can't keep his eyes 100% downfield. 

Should we be expecting to see Uche and Hudson dialing up some exotic blitzes early in the game? 

TheLastStraw

October 11th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^

Also, is this a game where Michigan might see positive results from the holding chart? You said that their linemen set their hands outside the shoulder pads a lot. It seems like, from the Maryland game, some refs might have seen the holding chart. If we get some early holding calls, that might also help a bit to neutralize the big boys. Should Winovich and Gary consider soccer/basketball style theatrics to demonstrate that they have been held?

Alumnus93

October 11th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^

Finally we get to see in Wisconsin, what a Michigan OL of old, used to look like... wish we went back to this, with the guards tackle-sized... instead we like 6'4  LT...   only JBB looks like one of their G, and hes at T

Indonacious

October 11th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^

They probably have arguably the best run blocking OL in the country, but surprisingly their OL isn't as amazing at pass blocking. When I last checked, they are 72nd nationally in opponent adjusted sack rate. 

AnthonyThomas

October 11th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^

Michigan is clearly the superior team and is playing at home at night. Iowa should have won the above game if they hadn't made a season worth of fatal errors in the second half alone. Yeah, Wisconsin likes to hold the ball. They were also losing with a minute to play because their offense wasn't good enough to beat Iowa without having really short fields on several occasions. Michigan has one of the best punting units in the country. Just don't make critical mistakes and you'll win the game. M by 10+. 

BlueHills

October 11th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^

For Nebraska to get 400 plus yards of offense against their D tells me that our offense has the potential to put up a lot of points, and force Wiscy to play from behind. That puts our defense’s ability to stop the pass and contain explosive plays - we’re pretty good at both - at an advantage.

Sure, they can grind it out, but to win this game, their offense will need to put up points faster than they might be able to. I have a good feeling about this game.

funkifyfl

October 11th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^

Their offense is good. Their defense is not. Our offense needs to outplay their defense and control the game according to JH's gameplan, whatever it is. That could mean speeding up the game to get more possessions or clawing back TOP on sustained drives. Wisco will put up some points (my guess is 23-28), so the challenge is keeping them from getting 30, while getting 30 ourselves ideally. Could be closer if their D stiffens and our O gets stuck.

 

The line is -9, which seems high to me. I'd take the points. O/U at 49 also seems low considering how good their O is and how bad their D has been, but probably reflects the expectation that Wisco will have sustained drives.

 

27-23 for the good guys. 

Bones032

October 11th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^

Only 1 top 250 recruit on their starting offense and he's not even one of their 7 best offensive players. How do these guys do it? How incredible is their o-line coach? 

BG Wolverine

October 11th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^

SIX (?!?!) dangerman stars, none of which were top 250 recruits, 4 on the o line!  In fact no top 250 recruits on the line at all.  amazing, considering how well they run the ball.

Mongo

October 11th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^

Need to take the ball and score a bunch quickly.  Their defense is banged up really bad and we can't waste any plays "testing their manhood".  Shea needs to get the ball out to skill players in space, Higdon to gash a few runs and light up that night sky (like dynamite).  This is the game the offense needs to win the game.  Can't get our banged up DL into a slug-fest come the 4th quarter, otherwise it will not end well for the good guys.

Mone / Marshall / Winovich / Gary need to take care of business in the 1st half just enough so we can jump out to a 21-10 lead at halftime.  Then don't turtle up in the 3rd quarter.  Need to score another 17 points in the 2nd half to take them out of their game plan, get Hornibrook having to pass from the gun under the duress of a Hudson or Bush blitz.  

We can do this.  UM 38  UW 27   ...  Go Blue !!!

Mongo

October 11th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^

Team - I am walking back this confidence.  Just learned it is student fall break and 40% of the student body may be a no-show in the stadium.  If this happens the night game atmosphere will suck, we are likely to play flat and get our ass handed to us.

What the fuck was the AD thinking?  Big night game at fall break with a huge swath of the student body watching on TV.  Dumbshit move - on par with Dave Brandon decision ...

BlueMan80

October 11th, 2018 at 1:47 PM ^

In 2016, the D bashed Hornibrook soundly in the first quarter.  He was a bit skittish the rest of the game.  Of course, he was a freshman then and freshman can get rattled.  The D needs to give him a good bashing early in Saturday's game.  Get him worried about his protection...and his well being.

uminks

October 11th, 2018 at 2:08 PM ^

The offense will need to play well and have drives ending in 7 points rather than 3 points. I think if we can keep a 10 to 14 point cushion on WI, we will win. I expect our D line to get worn down but if we build a big enough lead, then WI may be passing more than mauling our D line with running plays. I see a 42-27 type game, as long as Shea has a good night.

Seth

October 11th, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^

This year I take it. Like, I would take Ruiz over Biadasz if I had to choose a sophomore center to spend the next 2.5 years with.

  1. Edwards

    ----^All-American^----
  2. Benzscahwel
  3. Dieter as a G or C
  4. Biadasz

    -----All-B1G-----
  5. Ruiz
  6. Dieter as a T
  7. Dietzen
  8. Bredeson
  9. Van Lanen
  10. Onwenu
  11. Spanellis

    ---Solid---
  12. JBB
  13. Runyan

 

AnthonyThomas

October 11th, 2018 at 6:28 PM ^

What's with people predicting Wisconsin to score 27-30 points? That is not happening on the road against this defense. They shouldn't have scored more than 14-17 against Iowa. They scored 21 against BYU at home. I'll be disappointed if M gives up more than 21. This should be similar to 2016.

Sambojangles

October 11th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^

What is the effect of the left-handed QB on the defense? Does it make that big a difference? Obviously the RT is the blindside, but does the field being reversed mess with any tendencies, particularly in the secondary? 

In 2016 Shane Morris was still around for the defense to prep against. Who knows how much it helped, but the game went pretty well.

GarMoe

October 12th, 2018 at 6:22 AM ^

Benzsch....Bensz......dammit....that huge 1st round OL on Wisky had a whole TWO (2) power 5 offers going in to his senior year -Syracuse and Wyoming.  LOL.   Talk about diamonds in the rough.  Wisconsin can build OLinemen obviously but talk about the entire P5 overlooking a guy.

m1jjb00

October 12th, 2018 at 1:25 PM ^

"and mostly impenetrable in pass protection."

What are you talking about?  Wisconsin ranks 68th in sacks per (attempts+sacks) at 6.4%, one spot ahead of all teams Michigan State.  Michigan is 43rd at 4.9%.