What do we know about Wisconsin

Their offense has looked like death against defenses that are several tiers beneath them.

Isn't the quarterback the transfer from Miami? The Van Dyke kid?

As for Head Coach Luke Fickell, I'm guessing after his undefeated Cincinnati Bearcat team 27 to 6 loss to Bama in the 21 Cotton Bowl playoff game, he wants some get back on that.

Ron Dayne is going to be recognized this Saturday for his 1999 Heisman Trophy and that made me feel old.

Wisconsin is 2-0

They won 28-14 over Western Michigan (who then lost 56-0 against Ohio State). It was 14-13 into the 4th quarter.

They won 27-13 over South Dakota (not SDSU). It was 17-13 late into the 3rd quarter.


Tyler Van Dyke is 38-63 for 406 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs on the season.

Chez Mellusi is their leading rusher with 35 carries for 134 yards (3.8 ypc) and 3 TDs.

Their defense gives up right at 4 yards per carry.

Their defense also gives up 57% of passes with no TDs and 1 INT.

Wisconsin's offense is ranked 100th in yards per play, 75th in yards per game and 87th in points per game.

According to Sagarin their schedule is ranked 132nd in the country.

quote:

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Shaun was robbed.

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Dang, that didn't even hit me. You are so right.

They like cheese and beer. Or beer and cheese, depending upon who you ask.

Bama will win easily unless it turns the ball over several times, has long TDs called back for holding, commit multiple personal fouls, has false starts, the refs allow holding by the opposing DBs, Formby plays and Proctor doesn't.

Thoughts from Wisconsin fan, which I also relayed in the opening line thread...

- Wisconsin went to four Rose Bowls + Cotton and Orange Bowl in the 2010s. At the time, we were riding high with Paul Chryst. Had an alumnus that understood the foundation of which Barry Alvarez built the program. Seemed primed to be a consistent Top 10-15 team. Things started to unravel once COVID hit. Will spare heavy details, but Chryst gave up play-calling to focus on other aspects of the program and, eventually, got rid of the recruiting department. Once he took play-calling back, it was too late. Ended up losing his job.

- Luke Fickell was the right hire. Still is, IMO. Don't think he expected the learning curve that is currently happening with Phil Longo. I'm not sure if it's trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, but I don't know that the two totally see eye-to-eye, nor do I think Longo has been an effective playcaller. Pretty difficult for Wisconsin fans to reconcile the drastic change in philosophy with similar results. Don't think Fickell's seat is anywhere close to warm, but Longo's days might be numbered if his offense doesn't improve.

- Defensively, Wisconsin has two of the better DBs in the B1G, Hunter Wohler and Ricardo Hallman, and are very experienced everywhere else in the defensive backfield. They had a lot of work to do last year with such little help coming from the front seven. Wisconsin attacked the portal this season to address some pass rush concerns, but it hasn't materialized. For the most part, Wisconsin's biggest issues on defense has come from a depleted DL and poor LB play.

- Camp Randall is a historic, traditionally rowdy stadium against the right opponent. Alabama is that opponent. Kirk Herbstreit has a fun story about his experience playing there with Ohio State. There isn't much to suggest Wisconsin can win this game, and I don't think they will, but the atmosphere should give your new staff and players a chance to read/react in a difficult environment before Knoxville next month.

Above all, I hope you all enjoy Madison. Have said a number of times, but it's hard to beat the setting of a B1G university, in a capital city, on an isthmus. There is a reason Madison shows up at the top of almost every 'best college town' list

Excellent post! Thanks for contributing. I love posts like this offering us a different perspective.

Not a problem! Obviously, we know more about our own conference opponents, so it's fun to learn about non-conference opponents you don't see often. I talked briefly about the defensive personnel, so I probably should have hit the offense a bit more:

- Expectations for TVD have been mixed. No one expects Russell Wilson, but TVD has flashed a big arm at different times in college. Most Wisconsin fans were willing to give this a shot because of the knee injury last season. To start the year, TVD has looked OK... He has a quick release, so timing patterns have been fine. It hasn't looked so good when he's forced to work through progressions.

- Wisconsin has no issue using its depth at WR, but Will Pauling is the unquestioned best player in that room. He's used in the slot and turned in a productive 75 catches and 6 TDs last season. Trech Kekahuna is another WR that we're itching to see more of. He is twitchy as hell and, if you can believe it, greatly outproduced Zachariah Branch at Bishop Gorman. Thing is, we don't use many four WR sets, which makes it tough to get Trech/Pauling on the field together. With how the offense has looked so far, Longo may have to force his way into this.

- RB is an interesting story. Historically, Wisconsin churns out some of the nation's best RBs but it's been a weird start to the year. Chez Mellusi came to Wisconsin from Clemson and looked the part. Unfortunately, three season-ending injuries have really taken a toll on his burst. He, simply, does not have it. Tawee Walker, an Oklahoma transfer, is a physical runner that sat out last game. He's a bowling ball, but his style of running makes him a complement. Cade Yacamelli is third on the depth chart and has been sparingly used to start the year, but he's a well-built runner that has the burst we hoped to see out of Chez. Many are wondering if he should start eating into more significant carries.

- OL has multiple NFL players at both Tackle positions, a future pick in Joe Brunner at Guard, and two extremely experienced starters in Jake Renfro and Joe Huber. It is a talented group but there have been some inconsistencies to start the year.

As a whole, offense has been underwhelming. Many excused it in the first game because it was heavy ball-control with Wisconsin's first four drives all exceeding six minutes of clock. Sounds good until you realize three ended in FG attempts, including one miss.

ETA: As an aside, Wisconsin people drink... a lot. LSU fans were a great time when we played them in Green Bay several years back. Hope you get a chance to check out bars/restaurants along Capitol Square, State Street, and Willy Street. I provided quite a few recommendations in this thread (and another on the Travel board).