USA Today Coaches' Poll (Wisc ranked 12)

[Aaron It Out]

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. Boise State
6. Virginia Tech
7. TCU
8. Oklahoma
9. Nebraska
10. Iowa
11. Oregon
12. Wisconsin
13. Miami
14. Penn State
15. Pittsburgh
16. LSU
17. Georgia Tech
18. North Carolina
19. Arkansas
20. Florida State
21. Georgia
22. Oregon State
23. Auburn
(T)24. Utah, West Virginia

Pretty good ranking for the Badgers, although I think they'll finish better.

Also, why make a tie for 24th? Couldn't flip a coin?

[chuckleslove]

A tie is fine Considering how they do the voting it is very unlikely that a tie ever happens and interesting that it did but why does it matter if there is a tie?

I always worry about Wisconsin going into years when expectations are high, they always seem to fail to meet them and it is the years when it is supposed to be a down year that they come out of nowhere and have a great season.

Hopefully this year they don't have a let down because it has the potential to be a special year, having OSU at home helps too because if they can win that they will be in a very good position.

[Aaron It Out]

I guess as a fan I wouldn't feel any better if my team was tied for 24th than I would if it was just 25th.

[Mags FTW]

The college football talking head that was on SportsCenter this morning picked Wisco as his darkhorse title contender. Said they have a 2-game season, OSU/Iowa.

[Mags FTW]

In other Badger news, I'm a little upset this play didn't make ESPN's "House of Pain".
http://espn.go.com/college-football/fea ... ain/_/n/10

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc5wY1i-N0Q&feature=related[/youtube]

A title run and Heisman campaign crash and burn on one play. Purdue football has never recovered.

[Mags FTW]

Here's the Coach's Poll clip where they mention the Badgers as the sleeper team. It's near the end.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5442120

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

Big Ten with 4 teams in the top 14, not too bad. 5 if you count Nebraska.

[SugarRay34]

That is one of my favorite plays in Badger history right there. Great great game. As far as this year goes, this might be the best Badgers team since the Dayne/Bolllinger Rose bowl team vs Stanford. Their offense is that explosive. Best OL since the Rose Bowl years to go along with the 2 headed monster of Clay and Ball. As long as Tolzien can limit his turnovers, there is no reason why we are not in a New Years bowl game. We could have 5 or 6 1st team all big 10 players. Carimi, Clay, Kendricks, Watt, Welch. The talent that Bielema has put together is outstanding.

We get really lucky by getting to play OSU as a night game at Camp Randall. That game is going to decide bascially the whole season. If we win that game there is a very good chance we are in the hunt for the big game. As you can tell I am real stoked for this season.

[Kerb Hohl]

Big Ten with 4 teams in the top 14, not too bad. 5 if you count Nebraska.

Have the D1AA (FCS or whatever) rankings come out? I'm curious to see where the Gophers land.

OK, OK and with that karma, they probably take the axe in Camp Randall.

[El Duderino]

In other Badger news, I'm a little upset this play didn't make ESPN's "House of Pain".
http://espn.go.com/college-football/fea ... ain/_/n/10

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc5wY1i-N0Q&feature=related[/youtube]

A title run and Heisman campaign crash and burn on one play. Purdue football has never recovered.

Thanks for posting that clip, i forgot about that play. It ranks up there with most exciting plays in Badgers history, but nothing for me tops the blocked punt in Minnesota for a TD late.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfIA7lhsSKs[/youtube]

[Bucksfans1and2]

As long as Bielama doesn't fall in love with the pass we could make the Championship. Our running game is the best since Ron Dayne in 99-00.

[El Duderino]

As long as Bielama doesn't fall in love with the pass we could make the Championship. Our running game is the best since Ron Dayne in 99-00.

Bielama doesn't call the plays, Paul Chryst does.

Since he became the offensive coordinator and play caller, he has made the offense more diverse and passes more than Brian White did, but Chryst has shown that he still will run the ball a lot. The nice change though is if the running game isn't being effective enough in some games, the Badgers under him have had the ability to also be effective throwing the ball.

Over the last three seasons with Chryst calling plays, the Badgers have finished 1st, 1st, and 2nd in rushing yards in the Big Ten. I see no reason to worry that the Badgers won't yet again this year do what they've lived on primarily for many years, run the ball right at teams.

[Kerb Hohl]

I have the pleasure of saying I was at both of those games (somewhat).

I was actually making a college visit to Purdue the morning of that game, but I had to leave because I had some obligation I can't remember that night and then watched the game on TV. Hung out around the stadium for a little while beforehand though.

Was sitting in the Gopher student section for the blocked punt game, however.

[chuckleslove]

As long as Bielama doesn't fall in love with the pass we could make the Championship. Our running game is the best since Ron Dayne in 99-00.

Bielama doesn't call the plays, Paul Chryst does.

Since he became the offensive coordinator and play caller, he has made the offense more diverse and passes more than Brian White did, but Chryst has shown that he still will run the ball a lot. The nice change though is if the running game isn't being effective enough in some games, the Badgers under him have had the ability to also be effective throwing the ball.

Over the last three seasons with Chryst calling plays, the Badgers have finished 1st, 1st, and 2nd in rushing yards in the Big Ten. I see no reason to worry that the Badgers won't yet again this year do what they've lived on primarily for many years, run the ball right at teams.

I worry every off season that Chryst is going to be offered a head coaching job that he wants. I think it is only a matter of time for him to be gone and off to be a head coach somewhere. If the Badgers have a special season I would expect him to be high on the list of desirable coaches for the 2011 season. He has really done a good job as our offensive coordinator.

[Bucksfans1and2]

As long as Bielama doesn't fall in love with the pass we could make the Championship. Our running game is the best since Ron Dayne in 99-00.

Bielama doesn't call the plays, Paul Chryst does.

Since he became the offensive coordinator and play caller, he has made the offense more diverse and passes more than Brian White did, but Chryst has shown that he still will run the ball a lot. The nice change though is if the running game isn't being effective enough in some games, the Badgers under him have had the ability to also be effective throwing the ball.

Over the last three seasons with Chryst calling plays, the Badgers have finished 1st, 1st, and 2nd in rushing yards in the Big Ten. I see no reason to worry that the Badgers won't yet again this year do what they've lived on primarily for many years, run the ball right at teams.

It is nice that we have the ability to pass but I still thought we fell in love with the pass a little too much last year, especially because I think Tolzien looked a bit rattled at times. Maybe I'm wrong. I dont' know.

[El Duderino]

As long as Bielama doesn't fall in love with the pass we could make the Championship. Our running game is the best since Ron Dayne in 99-00.

Bielama doesn't call the plays, Paul Chryst does.

Since he became the offensive coordinator and play caller, he has made the offense more diverse and passes more than Brian White did, but Chryst has shown that he still will run the ball a lot. The nice change though is if the running game isn't being effective enough in some games, the Badgers under him have had the ability to also be effective throwing the ball.

Over the last three seasons with Chryst calling plays, the Badgers have finished 1st, 1st, and 2nd in rushing yards in the Big Ten. I see no reason to worry that the Badgers won't yet again this year do what they've lived on primarily for many years, run the ball right at teams.

It is nice that we have the ability to pass but I still thought we fell in love with the pass a little too much last year, especially because I think Tolzien looked a bit rattled at times. Maybe I'm wrong. I dont' know.

The one game i'd agree with you on was Ohio St., Chryst didn't let the running game have a chance to get going and the two first half picks basically sealed the game.

[trwi7]

In that Ohio State game the Badgers rushed 22 times in the first half compared to 19 passes. Tolzien was sacked three times and gave up that 89 yard INT for a TD, but he was 11-16 for 85 yards in the 1st half. Not great, but not horrible especially considering the pressure Ohio State was bringing. Almost every drop back Tolzien would be under heavy pressure early.

The problem in that first half was definitely the running game.

First drive of the game had 1 rush for 0 yards.

Second drive was 1 rush for 2 yards.

Third drive was 1 rush for 15 yards but that was on a reverse to Gilreath.

Fourth drive was 6 rushes for 30 yards but Gilreath got 14 more yards on a reverse and Tolzien scrambled for 9 yards. The running backs had 4 rushes for 7 yards on that drive.

Fifth drive was 1 rush for 4 yards.

Sixth drive was 1 rush for -4 yards. Tolzien also fumbled here and lost a yard which counted as a rush and Maragos had a 9 yard TD rush on the fake field goal.

Seventh drive was 6 rushes for 23 yards. Isaac Anderson got a reverse for 2 yards and Ball had a 6 yard rush that was called back by holding.

The Badgers did have a 10-7 lead with under two minutes left in the half but gave up plays of 27, 22 and 32 yards in just over a minute that allowed the Buckeyes to take a 14-10 halftime lead.

Then Tolzien made a bad pass IIRC and that was returned for a TD. So now the Badgers are down 21-10. They come back on the next drive with a FG and cut the lead to 8 only to give up a TD on the ensuing kickoff and now they're down 28-13 at which point you almost have to change your gameplan a little bit.

Still it should be pretty obvious that the running game was awful as well. The running backs ran the ball 27 times for 84 yards, 3.1 YPC. Clay and Ball ran the ball 24 of 44 times and only got 65 yards, a measly 2.7 YPC. Ball was pretty good, 3 carries for 19 yards.

The problem is Ohio State can fill the lanes and attack our offensive line which weaker defenses like Northern Illinois, Purdue and Michigan State can't do. That's when you need to sit Clay out most of the time and bring in a guy like Ball who at least has a shot at breaking a tackle or making a defender miss. Sure Clay is going to roll over the 225 pound linebacker for Northern Illinois or Michigan State, but he's not going to get by the 250 pound linebacker from Iowa or Ohio State and he just doesn't have the elusiveness to make a defender miss.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

Big Ten with 4 teams in the top 14, not too bad. 5 if you count Nebraska.

Have the D1AA (FCS or whatever) rankings come out? I'm curious to see where the Gophers land.

OK, OK and with that karma, they probably take the axe in Camp Randall.

Way to reverse jinx the badgers there.

I'd be surprised if the Badger/Gopher game was close this year, assuming there are no major injuries. The Gophers D should be really fast and talented this year but our o-line and running game is so sketchy that we'll have one of the worst offenses in the country.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfIA7lhsSKs[/youtube]

Probably the most depressing game I've ever been to. Show me another team that has rushed for 400 yards and lost. The last match up at Camp Randall was also pretty heart breaking.

[El Duderino]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfIA7lhsSKs[/youtube]

Probably the most depressing game I've ever been to. Show me another team that has rushed for 400 yards and lost. The last match up at Camp Randall was also pretty heart breaking.

Yea that game was insane, the Gophers ran through the Badgers as if they were a high school defense. Even more crazy, i almost shut the game off and would have missed that beautiful ending.