2023 Badger Football Thread

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – For the first time this season, Luke Fickell’s football team opened the game with impressive play on both sides of the ball and took control early.

Yes, a Purdue team that has personnel issues pretty much everywhere you look rallied a bit in the second half but the bottom line is that Wisconsin left Ross-Ade Stadium Friday night with a 38-17 victory, a game it had to have.

Although the victory wasn't secure until Braelon Allen scored on a 4-yard run with 3 minutes 35 seconds left, after a Purdue turnover, Fickell and his staff had to be encouraged by how well their players performed early.
The victory, sparked by a diverse ground game and stellar third-down play by the offense and defense, left UW at 1-0 in Big Ten play and 3-1 overall heading into an off week.

The Badgers can get a bit of rest, hope that center Jake Renfro (foot) and defensive end Isaiah Mullens (knee) return and are ready to go when Rutgers visits Camp Randall Stadium on Oct. 7.
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TW said:
I wonder whether it will be Yacamelli, or Acker, who moves up into the role of #2.
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Maybe neither....it's possible they pull in a freshman RB like Nate White into action and burn a redshirt. They have a week off to figure it all out
 
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Mark87 said:
Maybe neither....it's possible they pull in a freshman RB like Nate White into action and burn a redshirt. They have a week off to figure it all out
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Strong possibility there. White can play in up to 4 games, and still keep his red-shirt standing. I have a hunch they're going to explore that as a possibility, then see how it shakes out with him, moving forward. He's not very big. He's probably working on getting bigger, and stronger. I don't know how fast he is, but if he's a speed merchant, could be a darned good change up option to use.

It'll be interesting seeing how this shakes out. In a way, it's kind of like it came about with Allen. He came out the same way.
 
TW said:
Strong possibility there. White can play in up to 4 games, and still keep his red-shirt standing. I have a hunch they're going to explore that as a possibility, then see how it shakes out with him, moving forward. He's not very big. He's probably working on getting bigger, and stronger. I don't know how fast he is, but if he's a speed merchant, could be a darned good change up option to use.

It'll be interesting seeing how this shakes out. In a way, it's kind of like it came about with Allen. He came out the same way.
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A track star in HS so wheels are there...could use 2-3 guys as a committee to spell Allen.
 
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I guess I'm a bit confused on how the rating system works. If you look at these figures, they all make sense, until you get the rating for Nelson. This isn't the first time his numbers don't make sense. Maybe I missed something. Can anyone shed light on how they do this, especially with his numbers?

Offensive Line​


Trey Wedig: 74.4 overall, 89.3 pass-blocking grade, 63.7 run-blocking grade


Jack Nelson: 74.1 overall, 92.1 pass-blocking grade, 81.1 run-blocking grade


Tanor Bortolini: 71.4 overall, 83.2 pass-blocking grade, 66.0 run-blocking grade


Michael Furtney: 67.3 overall, 69.8 pass-blocking grade, 71.8 run-blocking grade


Riley Mahlman: 62.1 overall, 89.2 pass-blocking grade, 61.2 run-blocking grade


Joe Huber: 59.7 overall, 45.4 pass-blocking grade, 61.1 run-blocking grade
 
TW said:
I guess I'm a bit confused on how the rating system works. If you look at these figures, they all make sense, until you get the rating for Nelson. This isn't the first time his numbers don't make sense. Maybe I missed something. Can anyone shed light on how they do this, especially with his numbers?

Offensive Line​


Trey Wedig: 74.4 overall, 89.3 pass-blocking grade, 63.7 run-blocking grade


Jack Nelson: 74.1 overall, 92.1 pass-blocking grade, 81.1 run-blocking grade


Tanor Bortolini: 71.4 overall, 83.2 pass-blocking grade, 66.0 run-blocking grade


Michael Furtney: 67.3 overall, 69.8 pass-blocking grade, 71.8 run-blocking grade


Riley Mahlman: 62.1 overall, 89.2 pass-blocking grade, 61.2 run-blocking grade


Joe Huber: 59.7 overall, 45.4 pass-blocking grade, 61.1 run-blocking grade
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Who's ratings are you looking at, which site?
 
Official stats are in , 209 rushing and 193 passing yards on offense.

That's about a perfect ratio and balance, honestly if you create 400 yards of total offense each week you'll win a lot more games than you lose. You can nitpick and some of you are but that's 100% what's been missing for 3-4 years under PC was balance on O.
 
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Mark87 said:
Who's ratings are you looking at, which site?
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I forget which one to be honest. But it follows the same inconsistencies I see across the board. I hold no faith in their evaluations to be honest, because they consider a whiff on a block even when the block was away from the action of the play, and often, after the ball should have been released on a passing play.

Until they start to evaluate a whiff on a block, they need to start factoring the time element of the QB holding the ball, and relative position of the QB in regards to the perimeter of the offensive line on passing plays. Those two factors also need to be brought in to the evaluation of holding calls. Then there's the blocks made by defensive linemen against an offensive lineman, to free a linebacker to get to the QB, where the O lineman is responsible for picking up the blitzer but can't gain position because of the block leveled against him.

These are just the tip of the iceberg of how far off these ratings can be.

I may not have explained it as eloquently as I should above, but I'm trying to point out that the whole thing is skewed by them not knowing, or understanding, the dynamics within a play. They just evaluate what they "think they see" when they look at a play. Too many unknown factors to be that accurate.

But, that's just my opinion. I never blamed an offensive lineman for missing a block when the QB danced around in the pocket, and moved into a position that made it impossible for the lineman to maintain the block without holding. But, for the sake of their rating "system," they have no idea what actually transpired, because they are not in the room when the coaches discuss the total dynamics of a play with the players, after the game.

Just my two cents.
 
Badgers win vs Rutgers was 400th big ten win. Only OSU and Michigan have more
 
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