You know the Wisconsin football drill. Really strong and really fat guys clearing out huge spaces of open field for really talented, speedy tailbacks. Rinse and repeat. Always repeat.
Exit Melvin Gordon, Rob Havenstein and Kyle Costigan. Time to step up for Corey Clement, Tyler Marz and Ray Ball. Wisconsin will once again over-power opponents by pounding the ball. In the words of Spandau Ballet, “I know this much is true.” What’s questionable about this team is quarterback Joel Stave and the passing game. Yes, it’s a new coaching regime, the third new coach in four seasons, but that’s not a cause for concern.
They quickly and easily found the right man in Paul Chryst. I’m actually surprised that he didn’t get the nod in 2012 when Bret Bielema left. Chryst is the right guy to keep the big red machine rolling. There’s no excuse for Wisconsin football not to win 9 or 10 games every season.
Wisconsin football players attending Big Ten Media Day:
Michael Caputo, Sr., S
Corey Clement, Jr., RB
Joel Stave, Sr., QB
Credit Chryst for bringing the most right players to media day. Most of the Big Ten Coaches totally dropped the ball on this. But the Badgers totally got this right.
Offense:
QB: Stave defines “game manager,” as he’s 21-7 over his career despite a rather poor showing in 2014. He had some mental issues regarding the physics of the game to sort out, and threw more interceptions than touchdowns.
WR: Leading receiver and receiving yards man Alex Erickson returns; the rest of the unit is all one big question mark.
RB: How is that possible that a program returns a guy (Clement) with 949 yards rushing and 9 TDs in a season, and he’s the backup?? For Purdue that would be a good total team accumulation over a two year span. Gordon set the FBS career record with a 7.7 yards per carry average. Clement is right there with him at 7.0
OL: this group will likely take a step back, at least by lofty Wisconsin football standards, as they have to replace three starters. Then again maybe not too much as Marz is ranked the #5 OT in the next draft class. Also, Badger football kind of does the same exact thing that Bo Ryan does on the basketball side- find lightly recruited big white guys, and mold/develop them into something extraordinary. I see no reason for that to change now.
Defense:
DL: There’s not really anything exceedingly interesting, notable or exceptional about this position group. That doesn’t mean they’re bad; it just means there’s not much to talk about here.
LB: Having to replace all that experience and accumulated tackles could be a cause for concern. Vince Beigel is the real deal though. Joe Schobert on the other side is someone to keep an eye on too.
Secondary: Now this is the strength of the team. Good luck to those trying to put up big numbers in the passing game on Wisconsin. Former QB Tanner McEvoy made the right move in switching over to free safety. He’ll shine in this role. Which is good because he was kind of bad at that whole passing thing.
Caputo is poised to have an all-conference level season.
Bottom Line:
It was good to see that Wisconsin football showed up for the Outback Bowl; because they clearly didn’t make the trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game. Obviously, it was the worst ever edition of the Big Ten Championship. Yet before a ball was even kicked in the 59-0 “game,” something about it seemed off. For whatever reason I had zero excitement and interest in it. Couldn’t put my finger on it, but when Gary Andersen fled for Oregon State a couple days after, we learned why the Badgers decided not to participate.
Good to see the Badgers respond nicely by upsetting a very good Auburn squad. Everything sets up this year the Badgers to go back to the Big Ten championship game. Actually, the Big Ten West is so weak, there’s really no excuse for Wisconsin football to go there every other year; at least.
Never Too Early Season Preview Series:
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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