Wisconsin

[FirstDownB]

What do you think? Is this the year "the streak" is broken? 14 L's in a row.

Badgers lost starting QB Jack Coan yesterday to a foot injury, maybe for awhile. However, their R-Fr backup QB is hyped.

Their Oline should be very good as always. Insert next 2,000 yard rusher up from the assembly line.

Their defense is supposed to be as good as ever.

Will playing them earlier in the season (3rd game) make a difference in terms of holding up for 4 quarters against their Oline? Feel like we had them beat in 2018 and then just ran out of gas in Q4 thru 3OT.

This one always carries more weight for me for personal/family reasons. One of my best Purdue football memories was being in Camp Randall to watch the blocked kick return by Woodyard for game winning TD. Unfortunately that was only 2 wins ago in the series.

 

[ANDY597]

I think the back up qb is a 5 star, we tend to make back up qbs look like Payton

 

[MilwaukeeBoilerFan]

Their Oline should be very good as always. Insert next 2,000 yard rusher up from the assembly line.

This main point above says it all.
Jack Coan is a solid game manager. Graham Mertz is the 2 door BMW Convertible they were looking to get out of the garage for more than a Sunday drive. I don't know how he'll do overall, but WI has an incredible formula for success that begins and ends with their O-Line and 2,000 yard RB's.
I've been stunned in some of their game losses they have tend to get away from their O-Line success. It will take a battle of wills on the line to limit their success and have a heck of a game to beat them. Minnesota last year thought they could go toe to toe with WI and got shattered. Didn't see the O$U game...no comment.
The Ducks got the Rose Bowl based on lack of special teams gaffe by WI not getting punt off and Ducks getting immediate 7 pts. Lack of containment to Hebbert was another achilles heel for the defense as he accounted for 3 TD's

In order to win, we have to play close to error free (no turnovers, no penalties) and hope that WI beats themselves with a turnover or penalty that allows us to sustain a drive. We've been close, but haven't done it yet. I put our chances with a healthy Rondale Moore and David Bell at 40%. There is no doubt a much improved chance with no crowd. I hope they take advantage and get the win against WI.

 

[KentuckyBoiler]

I think the back up qb is a 5 star, we tend to make back up qbs look like Payton

Do you mean Peyton?

Anyway, I think it will help that they will.not have fans in the stands. That will be a benefit.

I think this is our year to remove the curse of “The Fumble”.

 

[ChemE Grad]

They lost some receiver talent too, which is not as easy for them to replace but plenty of RB depth. Local fans have been wanting Mertz to get a chance and start for 4+ years because they don't always get that type of talent interested in handing off the football. It would help if someone could poach DC Coordinator Leonard because he has done a great job building their defense.

Probably their biggest threat is COVID, have had multiple weeks with outbreaks within the athletic program and overall, Madison is having a tough time keeping #'s down.

 

[MilwaukeeBoilerFan]

They lost some receiver talent too, which is not as easy for them to replace but plenty of RB depth. Local fans have been wanting Mertz to get a chance and start for 4+ years because they don't always get that type of talent interested in handing off the football. It would help if someone could poach DC Coordinator Leonard because he has done a great job building their defense.

Probably their biggest threat is COVID, have had multiple weeks with outbreaks within the athletic program and overall, Madison is having a tough time keeping #'s down.

Good point about covid-19, but believe the dust will settle by the time we play them.

Wondering why so different than other areas? Madison is literally one of the top 20 most liberal places in the U.S. and they are covid crazy yet #'s are high. Milwaukee and Green Bay are mixed bag of both sides and that is a bit easier to grasp. Wisconsin upper East end is high on the overall charts.

 

[cidsports]

1. Wisconsin has a 68% chance to get back to Indianapolis looking at ESPN FPI.
2. Northwestern is next at nearly 10%
3. Minneosta and Iowa were tied last week, but Gophers moved upward at 5+%
4. Iowa is at 5%.
5. Purdue is under 1%. Nebraska is rated higher, but schedule gives Boilermakers the boost for Indy.
6. Nebraska is at 0.6%
7. Illinois had no chance last week, but no 0.2%.

 

[FirstDownB]

View embedded media

1. Wisconsin has a 68% chance to get back to Indianapolis looking at ESPN FPI.
2. Northwestern is next at nearly 10%
3. Minneosta and Iowa were tied last week, but Gophers moved upward at 5+%
4. Iowa is at 5%.
5. Purdue is under 1%. Nebraska is rated higher, but schedule gives Boilermakers the boost for Indy.
6. Nebraska is at 0.6%
7. Illinois had no chance last week, but no 0.2%.

View embedded media

Kind of shocked at how little respect the gophers are getting.

 

[cidsports]

Kind of shocked at how little respect the gophers are getting.

They lost most of the front 7 on defense. Old adage is defense wins championships, so may play a role.

Two B1G losses in B1G last year.

Northwestern won in 2018 and will be better than last year.

fwiw

 

[Purdue85]

Kind of shocked at how little respect the gophers are getting.

It's almost as if the rest of the world doesn't have a lot of faith in the boat rower's ability to sustain success with the talented roster he inherited.

 

[Purdue85]

They lost most of the front 7 on defense. Old adage is defense wins championships, so may play a role.

Two B1G losses in B1G last year.

Northwestern won in 2018 and will be better than last year.

fwiw

They've recruited quite a few bodies (mostly 3-star) at DT, DE and LB over the past few years.

Depth shouldn't be a problem.

Development, on the other hand...

 

[FirstDownB]

They lost most of the front 7 on defense. Old adage is defense wins championships, so may play a role.

Two B1G losses in B1G last year.

Northwestern won in 2018 and will be better than last year.

fwiw

Northwestern was a dumpster fire last year. Minnesota returns a QB and WR that could be All conference. But NW is twice as likely to win the division? I don’t see it. Also if it’s the Badgers 2:1 vs the field, give me the field. I think there will be a lot of parity top to bottom.

 

[Coach Geez]

Northwestern was a dumpster fire last year. Minnesota returns a QB and WR that could be All conference. But NW is twice as likely to win the division? I don’t see it. Also if it’s the Badgers 2:1 vs the field, give me the field. I think there will be a lot of parity top to bottom.

Northwestern will have one of the better defensive units in the B10 this coming year. That was never really their problem last year. Inconsistent QB play however was. Hunter Johnson, a former 5* recruit really struggled, but they also added intra-conference transfer Peyton Ramsey who’s performed well the last 3 years. Should be much improved if their QB situation pans out.

 

[RRanney1]

What do you think? Is this the year "the streak" is broken? 14 L's in a row.

Badgers lost starting QB Jack Coan yesterday to a foot injury, maybe for awhile. However, their R-Fr backup QB is hyped.

Their Oline should be very good as always. Insert next 2,000 yard rusher up from the assembly line.

Their defense is supposed to be as good as ever.

Will playing them earlier in the season (3rd game) make a difference in terms of holding up for 4 quarters against their Oline? Feel like we had them beat in 2018 and then just ran out of gas in Q4 thru 3OT.

This one always carries more weight for me for personal/family reasons. One of my best Purdue football memories was being in Camp Randall to watch the blocked kick return by Woodyard for game winning TD. Unfortunately that was only 2 wins ago in the series.

Have to hope that maybe Mertz inability to take the starting job from Coan will show up on the field in the same way Hunter Johnson colossally underwhelmed for Northwestern.

They seem to be hoping he lights a fire under them like Russell Wilson did, but the alternative is he sets fire to a perhaps archaic but still wildly successful offense by trying to do to much in the passing game, forcing them to then abandon the run in order to chase points on the scoreboard.

At Pitt, Chryst started out trying to be a passing team and settled into a more run based offense his last year there. His first year at Wisconsin they actually managed to pass for more yardage than they ran for but it was mostly their defense that carried them that year. They heavily relied on the run game the last 4 years, with Taylor putting up monster numbers the last 3.

Seems likely they will just plug someone in and come up with big rushing numbers, but at the same time it isn't a given, especially the big chunk plays that Taylor delivered. If they get back to having more of a plodding rushing attack that at times stalls out, and their QB tries to play hero ball? That could spell absolute disaster for them.

I still anticipate they will just show up Wisconsin, tough as hell in the trenches, underrated at the skill positions, and we'll emerge with a loss, however it does seem like a good year to be travelling to an empty Camp Randall, as they do seem to be more vulnerable for Purdue to upset than they have been in a long time.

 

[cidsports]

Paul Chryst is 34-13 in Big Ten games

• 7-3, 2019
• 5-4, 2018
• 9-1, 2017
• 7-3, 2016
• 6-2, 2015

 

[FirstDownB]

Have to hope that maybe Mertz inability to take the starting job from Coan will show up on the field in the same way Hunter Johnson colossally underwhelmed for Northwestern.

They seem to be hoping he lights a fire under them like Russell Wilson did, but the alternative is he sets fire to a perhaps archaic but still wildly successful offense by trying to do to much in the passing game, forcing them to then abandon the run in order to chase points on the scoreboard.

At Pitt, Chryst started out trying to be a passing team and settled into a more run based offense his last year there. His first year at Wisconsin they actually managed to pass for more yardage than they ran for but it was mostly their defense that carried them that year. They heavily relied on the run game the last 4 years, with Taylor putting up monster numbers the last 3.

Seems likely they will just plug someone in and come up with big rushing numbers, but at the same time it isn't a given, especially the big chunk plays that Taylor delivered. If they get back to having more of a plodding rushing attack that at times stalls out, and their QB tries to play hero ball? That could spell absolute disaster for them.

I still anticipate they will just show up Wisconsin, tough as hell in the trenches, underrated at the skill positions, and we'll emerge with a loss, however it does seem like a good year to be travelling to an empty Camp Randall, as they do seem to be more vulnerable for Purdue to upset than they have been in a long time.

Interesting take. Indeed, plodding their way to a 1 or 2 loss regular season and runner-up in the BTCG doesn't really get the folks in Madison very excited anymore. The placement of the Purdue game vs. Wisconsin presents an interesting twist. Not only will it be the week prior to their game with Michigan (potential trap game), but to your point will this be treated as a warm-up game for their offense, which will absolutely need to be clicking on all dimensions to win at Michigan and ultimately against OSU. May influence more pass heavy play-calling and open up the door for some randomness.

 

[SDBoiler1]

What do you think? Is this the year "the streak" is broken? 14 L's in a row.

Badgers lost starting QB Jack Coan yesterday to a foot injury, maybe for awhile. However, their R-Fr backup QB is hyped.

Their Oline should be very good as always. Insert next 2,000 yard rusher up from the assembly line.

Their defense is supposed to be as good as ever.

Will playing them earlier in the season (3rd game) make a difference in terms of holding up for 4 quarters against their Oline? Feel like we had them beat in 2018 and then just ran out of gas in Q4 thru 3OT.

This one always carries more weight for me for personal/family reasons. One of my best Purdue football memories was being in Camp Randall to watch the blocked kick return by Woodyard for game winning TD. Unfortunately that was only 2 wins ago in the series.

I don’t think you can just replace a Taylor at RB. He killed us for 3 seasons. Very glad he’s gone. Wisky also had some key defensive losses from graduation.

 

[cidsports]

I don’t think you can just replace a Taylor at RB. He killed us for 3 seasons. Very glad he’s gone. Wisky also had some key defensive losses from graduation.

• Wisconsin won in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018
• Northwestern in 2018
• Iowa in 2015
• Minnesota was the 2019 surprise
• Purdue could be the next surprise
• But, don't forget Nebraska in the Legends division got to Indianapolis
• Illinois didn't spoil Wisconsin in 2019, despite to W in Champaign and West Lafayette

Until the Badgers are eliminated, hard not to go with Wisconsin as the team to beat in the Big Ten West.

 

[SDBoiler1]

• Wisconsin won in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018
• Northwestern in 2018
• Iowa in 2015
• Minnesota was the 2019 surprise
• Purdue could be the next surprise
• But, don't forget Nebraska in the Legends division got to Indianapolis
• Illinois didn't spoil Wisconsin in 2019, despite to W in Champaign and West Lafayette

Until the Badgers are eliminated, hard not to go with Wisconsin as the team to beat in the Big Ten West.

They are the odds-on favorite in the pre-season for sure but Jack Coan has a broken foot and is out indefinitely. Jonathan Taylor is a HUGE loss. He killed Purdue 3 years in-a-row. They lose other important players but they just seem to plug in new ones every year on defense.

I don’t know what to make of Minnesota. Was last year a flash-in-the-pan? Are they a real contender? They lose 7 starters on defense alone. Their offense looks to be good even after losing their OC to PSU. Their demolishing of Auburn was impressive. That they wilted vs Wisconsin was not a surprise to me.

I think Iowa and NW will be competitive teams. Nebraska? No clue how good they will be. They seem to think this is their year. They think that every year under Frost. Illinois will fall back this year IMHO.