Looking Back at Saturday: Wisconsin

First of all, I was absent from most gamethreads until very, very late in the night on Saturday. Still, the conference as a whole held its own (with the exception of one team I have forbidden myself from roasting), and the only two winless squads from last week picked up their first W's of the season.

At this time last year, what were we doing? Well, Iowa had just escaped UNI and then smashed Iowa State. Minnesota was 1-1 after Javhid Best personally defeated the Gophers, Ohio State had just suffered a horrible, gut-wrenching loss to USC after a narrow escape from Navy, Michigan was 2-0 and the pundits were hyping them up after Forcier led a game-winning drive against Notre Dame, Michigan State had just been upset by Central Michigan after eating a whole cupcake (Montana State), Illinois picked up a win against Illinois State after being humiliated by Missouri, Purdue ALMOST beat Oregon on its home field after putting up 50 on Toledo (Robbie Hummel may have taken snaps at QB in the Toledo game, I'm not sure), Wisconsin needed OT to beat Fresno State (a game I saw live) and was 2-0, Penn State was 2-0, Indiana 2-0, and Northwestern 2-0.

After the jump: a look at a mostly successful week for Wisconsin.

I'm glad I could go to Madison. I'll take just about any good excuse to go there, and Saturday was as good of one as any.

For once, I got to Camp Randall before kickoff, found my seat, and then watched the Badgers drive the length of the field for a John Clay TD run (aided by a late hit penalty on San Jose State). The offense was in sync early, the defense shut down SJSU's first QB and running game, a punt was forced and then...

True freshman James White took a carry more than ten yards and was in sight of the goal line when he was stripped by a Spartan defender. The ball flew through the endzone for a touchback, people were pissed off, and San Jose State had the ball. (At this point, Jim Tressel would have benched White for the entirety of the season) The Spartans did nothing with their second possession, getting shut down again. Wisconsin was unable to get ten yards on their third possession and punted as well.

Trying to get some offense, San Jose State benched Jordan La Secla in favor of Matt Faulkner. And Faulkner looked okay...before he threw a gorgeous ball right to Blake Sorenson, who ran it back 16 yards and gave the Badgers excellent field position. And the Badgers didn't disappoint there; Lance Kendricks scored on a TD reception in which he was at least ten yards from the closest defender, and easily ran into the endzone for another TD.

The remainder of the first half was a blur until David Gilreath...got nailed in the helmet. No penalty, though, and his MOM is running onto the field. Something is completely wrong here. I've seen two Wisconsin players carted off the field in ambulances in just three years. That's two too many.

By this time, Nick Toon's absence was truly aggravating me (and Gilreath's obvious injury didn't help matters) and Wisconsin's offense was looking rather bland. Scott Tolzien was inaccurate and looking rather hurried in the pocket. He fumbled three times, once on a strip-sack that he was lucky to get back and the other two on bad exchanges between either him and center Peter Konz or the running back. Overall, the Badgers got a decidedly average performance from Tolzien.

John Clay punched in another TD in the second half, then Jordan La Secla found a receiver who broke about 11 tackles on his way to the endzone. I did scream a profanity at this point, because just like there's no reason you should ever get blocked by Brian Cardinal on a fast break, there's no reason you should ever allow a WIDE RECEIVER to break 4 tackles on his way to the endzone. Jay Valai, that was pitiful on your part.

Antonio Fenelus had the best day of any of the defensive players (Borland! Come back!), recording seven tackles, a blocked kick, and an unreal interception in which he made the catch on his back. J.J. Watt, Beau Allen and Louis Nzegwu did an excellent job stopping the run for most of the game but could NOT catch the opposing QBs.

There weren't a ton of blitzes called defensively by the Badgers. If there were, they were on running plays (which worked well), because the passing protection and QB escape ability of San Jose State's QBs was ridiculous. The coverage schemes worked decently, resulting in a pair of INTs, but there's never any reason a cornerback should be giving a wide receiver ANY cushion in short yardage situation. There's just no reason whatsoever.

Special Teams kick coverage was amazing. The longest KR of the day by the Spartans was 27 yards (and frankly, that seems a little exaggerated given how well the Badgers flew down the field for tackles and my memory of the game). Philip Welch hit both FG attempts and all 3 PATs. Brad Nortman was above average with 44.7 yards per punt, downing one deep in San Jose State territory.

Overall, the Badgers didn't perform like people expected them to. But the overreaction over this two possession win is so ridiculous that I can't tell whether they won or lost, guys.

Next up, Arizona State on Saturday at 2:30 CST. Both Arizona schools are in action against Big Ten foes, and I'm so torn whether to root for the Hawkeyes or for the Wildcats. The Hawkeyes unwittingly set up Arizona to almost win the Pac 10 by proving how hopeless their original starting QB was last year...

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Note: I'll be at that Arizona State game, too. Have fun, guys.