Bucky sticks it to the Illini

TW

TW

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Good win for the Badgers last night. Some concerns out there, but they played decently. Mertz did pretty well. Not going to anoint him as the greatest QB that ever lived, but he did play well, showed he has a damned good touch on his throws, and knows how to look off his receivers, to help the get open. Coan is a "tracker," who can't keep his eyes off the guy he wants to hit. Then there's seeing the whole field. You could see on a few passes, the guys Mertz hit were the 2nd or 3rd option. Good job on that. Excellent on picking up the yardage needed on 3rd down. You don't see that too often. He can throw it deep. His receivers don't even break stride to catch the ball. Like a polished starter.

Mertz tied the school record for consecutive passes complete at 17. If you go back to last year, he actually connected on 25 in a row. 20 for 21 is a fantastic game. The lone incompletion wasn't a great pass, but could have been caught. Unless nobody saw it, he threw for 5 TDs. No INTs, and only sacked twice. For those of us who have seen a lot of potential in this guy, and have been waiting to see him on the field, this may be the start of a beautiful relationship. Especially when Joe Rudolph knows how to develop a game plan that works to the benefit of the guy you have under center.

Watson failed to impress. The one thing he doesn't seem to understand is that you need to wait for the blocking to develop. He doesn't seem to be able to get that aspect down. If he doesn't, all the things I've seen in him, including in HS at Westlake, don't mean much. The Badger offense relies on waiting on the blocks, then squirting through a hole.

Groschek did a good job running the ball. He does wait on his blocks, and can find open room to run. At this point, I think he's by and away our best RB. Guerendo? Not a bit impressed yet. He needs to learn how to step out of tackles, not let a one arm grab knock him down. I keep asking myself if Chryst is holding Jalen Berger out of the mix for the time being, hoping he can redshirt. He could be the next secret weapon, if Watson and Guerendo don't pick it up. Some say he's as close to Taylor as we're gonna get. Time will tell.

Our RBs and TEs have learned to catch the football, and the Badgers are using them effectively. It's going to create more opportunities for our WRs. It showed last night. Teams will have to defend them, and the WRs will have more open space.

Offensive line played well against the pass, and only decent in opening holes for the running game. It will get better. Count on it.

Our defense totally dominated Illinois. It makes me wonder if they are actually a very bad team. I kept hearing how they're better than the team that nudged Wisconsin out of the unbeaten ranks last year, but after last night? Hard to believe.

But, it was a solid win, the defense did not disappoint, and the passing game was a winner.
 
TW said:
Mertz did pretty well.
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lol. understatement of the year.

almost every pass was on the money. and he just looked smooth as silk out there. i don't expect him to play like that every game, but what a debut. wisconsin finally has a good qb that will be around for more than one year. broke the program record for completion percentage in a game. and his five touchdown passes tied the program record for most in a game along with jim sorgi in 2003 and darrell bevell in 1993. his only incompletion was a dropped pass by groshek in the third quarter on third-and-19. mertz said the failed pass was his fault, that he needed to get the ball to his running back faster. so yeah, he wasn't perfect. but he was amazing. and i like his enthusiasm and his willingness to take responsibility.

"It was definitely fun," Mertz said afterward. "I owe it to Coach [Jon] Budmayr and Coach [Paul] Chryst, we took a ton of time, one-on-one meetings and really just sorted the game plan out and we knew what we were doing and I felt confident in my ability to go execute and I think there's definitely some stuff we need to clean up. A lot more stuff we can clean up."

the only thing that bugs me is that the coaches were willing to let this guy sit on the bench another year in favor of coan. what's up with that?

on a side note, alabama coach lou saban - known for his defensive prowess - publicly admitted that college football has changed and a good offense beats a good defense.

"It used to be that good defense beats good offense. Good defense doesn't beat good offense anymore," Saban told ESPN on Friday. "It's just like last week. Georgia has as good a defense as we do an offense, and we scored 41 points on them [in a 41-24 Alabama win]. That's not the way it used to be. It used to be if you had a good defense, other people weren't going to score. You were always going to be in the game. I'm telling you. It ain't that way anymore."
 
Badgers were near perfect if not for that fumble IL does not get on the board. Badgers got revenge for last years loss.
 
Tom Oates: Grading Badgers' performance in season-opening victory over Fighting Illini
  • TOM OATES For the State Journal

Tom Oates grades the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers' performance in their 45-7 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini in their season opener Friday night at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.

Offense: B-plus

Redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz did it all in his starting debut. His fumble aside, Jake Ferguson had a huge game with seven catches for 72 yards and three touchdowns. Danny Davis could be the deep threat UW is seeking. Nakia Watson and Garrett Groshek ran hard but the running game fell short of its usual standards.


Defense: A

UW's rangy, quick and physical line dominated the line of scrimmage, making plays between the tackles and setting up linebackers Jack Sanborn and Leo Chenal for many more. Almost all of Illinois' rushing yards came around the ends. Rachad Wildgoose held Josh Imatorbhebhe, Illinois' top wide receiver, to three catches and 26 yards.


Special teams: C

Andy Vujnovich's first UW punt went 60 yards and was downed at the 7. Thank you, NCAA. Stephan Bracey negated a 37-yard kickoff return when his knee touched down as he made the catch. Instead, UW started on the 4. Using Jack Dunn and Davis in tandem deep was a smart move against Blake Hayes, the Big Ten's best punter.


Coaching: A

Paul Chryst made a statement by going for it on fourth-and-1 near midfield in a 7-0 game. UW receivers often found themselves wide open. That's coaching. UW played the end of the half perfectly, getting 14 points in the final 2 minutes. The dominant line is going to give Jim Leonhard a million options when calling defenses.


Overall: B-plus

UW got revenge against Illinois for last season's upset with a dominating — and eye-opening — victory. It was eye-opening because Mertz threw the ball so effectively against Lovie Smith's defense. Mertz's performance overshadowed a stellar defensive effort. Illinois' offense failed to score a point and threw for only 87 yards.
 
UW needs to be recruiting Kansas more....I watch HS ball there every week. They have kids that fit UW to a tee but with more skills than some of the homegrown natives. Yes, that is consider sacred in the state but WFCA needs to be told to sit down and shut it already.
 
Nice win to start the season. Good win over an "okay" senior laden team.

Positives:
- Mertz by a long shot. Not sure what the coaches were seeing in practice because while Coan is certainly a solid game manager, he's never looked as good as Mertz did yesterday. He's got a nice touch and quick release - he sees it and commits to it quickly. Still, I'll wait a few more games before I anoint Mertz.
- Run defense was solid though they still can't seem to handle surprise runs by the QB. It's what cost them the Rose Bowl and they still haven't figured it out.
- Pass blocking was pretty good against a decent Illinois front seven. We'll see how they do against a couple of better defenses in the coming weeks.
- Looks like they found themselves a solid punter even though he had a punt or two you won't see on a highlight video.

Negatives:
- Doesn't look like they have anything special at RB though Guerendo has some potential. I don't think Watson has the feet to make the subtle cuts and moves that the special guys make. Kind of a straight line type guy. I think he'll be a decent #2. Maybe Berger becomes an option later in the season but you have to figure he's either not assignment sure or not securing the ball in practice to not make the 3-deep at this point. Had some hopes for Julius Davis when he came in but it seems he might not be an option.
- Pass rush was not very impactful. So far their OLBs look more ordinary than most years, though Herbig looks like he could impact big down the road. Their d-line is a solid bunch but it doesn't look like they have anyone there who can generate much pressure consistently.
- Run blocking was just okay. I've seen it before early in the year. Often as the season moves along they get better, as do the RBs, and the run game starts to look better. Plus Illinois was really selling out with 7 and often 8 in the box for much of the night. If Mertz keeps doing damage, he might pull guys out of the box and things might open up some.
 
realitybytes said:
on a side note, alabama coach lou saban - known for his defensive prowess - publicly admitted that college football has changed and a good offense beats a good defense.

"It used to be that good defense beats good offense. Good defense doesn't beat good offense anymore," Saban told ESPN on Friday. "It's just like last week. Georgia has as good a defense as we do an offense, and we scored 41 points on them [in a 41-24 Alabama win]. That's not the way it used to be. It used to be if you had a good defense, other people weren't going to score. You were always going to be in the game. I'm telling you. It ain't that way anymore."
Click to expand...

Was Lou speaking from the grave!?!?:cool:
 
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