The case for the 2006 team

[ForkEmBucky]

So I've seen several people, including some of my own fanbase talking about how the 2011 Badgers were our best team of all time. I would actually argue that 2010 was better based on defense and special teams, and the fact that Tolzien was a great college quarterback....but IMO neither of those teams are the best we've put on the field.

IMO it was the 12-1 2006 team.

I'll break this down by coaching, defense, offense, special teams, and opponents.

Coaching
Bret Bielema - First year coach whose hard nosed mentality brought a lot of fire to our team right away, especially the defense.

Paul Chryst - Retained by Bielema, Chryst continued to call plays for Stocco and the offense.

Bob Bostad - Retained by Bielema and already making his mark on the program.

Mike Hankwitz - First defensive coordinator hired by Bielema, this guy's record is incredible. More on what his defense did coming up....

Offense
Stats....
The Pass Game - John Stocco...people forget that he was our most prolific passer in history. Wilson was obviously the best QB we've had, but Stocco was an extremely accurate passer who could throw deep and get first downs with his legs when he needed to.

His weapons in 2006 were Paul Hubbard, Luke Swann, and Travis Beckum. They started slowly, forced to take over for Brandon Williams(left early for the draft) and Jonathon Orr(graduated). As the season progressed, Hubbard became Mr. Clutch, and Swann was constantly open. By the end of that season, his sophomore year, Travis Beckum was already the threat he would be for two more years as one of our most decorated players in history.

The Run Game - The line was solid, and featured current NFL starters Joe Thomas and Kraig Urbik. They had PJ Hill running behind them, and while he was no Dayne(who is), Calhoun or Ball, he was a punishing runner who played like a true Wisconsin back. Bill Rentmeester(FB) was basically Brady Ewing, just a little smaller and a little faster. He caught a lot of passes out of the backfield and was good for gashing and bashing his way for first downs.

Hill had pretty quick feet for a power back, and he was able to catch passes out of the backfield to give Stocco another option.

Tyler Donovan played very well when Stocco was out.

Defense

Accolades.....FIRST in the nation in pass efficiency, SECOND in scoring defense, and FIFTH in overall defense.

The front four was probably one of the more complete units we've had. While we've had more talented defensive tackles in the past(Hawthorne and Bryant), I don't think any of them played with the passion that Nick Hayden did. I honestly consider Hayden the best DT we've had in the program. Jason Chapman was as solid as anyone we've had recently. On the ends we had Matt Shaughnessy, who is probably one of the most talented players Wisconsin has had on defense period. He didn't get as many sacks as Watt, but he was extremely disruptive in the run game, and when he was hurt Jamal Cooper usually did a good job filling in. Joe Monty, while he wasn't a future NFLer like Hayden and Shaughnessy, was a bit of a ball hawk(hero of the 2004 Purdue game..forced the fumble for Starks), and he was rock steady and had the X factor.

The linebackers were great. Two very talented outside linebackers who have had an impact in the NFL, DeAndre Levy and Jonathon Casillas were very fast and played sound football under the direction of team leaders Mark Zalewski and Joel Stellmacher. Zalewski had a shorter pro career than they did, but in college he was a prolific run stuffer who had an ability to get behind the line of scrimmage and make plays.

The defensive backfield was solid, led by Joel Stellmacher(who really led the defense along with Zew), who may not have had the speed for the NFL, but he was a great run stopper and probably the most "cerebral" player I can remember in recent years. He got where he needed to be, so speed never really seemed to be a factor. His partner Roderick Rodgers was a great coverage safety who made some big plays in his career, and landed second team B1G honors. Speedy Jack Ikegwuonu and Allen Langford played very well at corner, and at times when Ike was healthy he was a true shutdown corner(in college). Zach Hampton and Ben Strickland, who came in frequently as reserves for injured players and in nickle/dime packages, played extremely well and brought a lot of X Factor to the defense and special teams.

Special Teams

Taylor Melhoff and Ken DeBauche were probably one of the better kicking units in college football, and probably the best we've ever had.

Coming up in post two, the opponents....

The Youngins...
On the roster you see names like O'Brien Schofield, John Moffitt, Niles Brinkley, Isaac Anderson, Jay Valai, Culmer St. Jean, Ben Strickland(special teams dynamo)....

 

[ForkEmBucky]

The One Loss.....


Michigan was a powerful team in 2006, despite how the season ended for the Wolverines and the Buckeyes and the reputation that the Big Ten probably didn't earn for another couple of years yet. Michigan's QB, Chad Henne, had all the tools needed to be a productive NFL QB...not sure what the hell happened to him...guess he wasn't motivated enough? But he was good, and they had a great line.

Wisconsin drew Michigan as their first game of the Big Ten schedule @ Ann Arbor, and their inexperienced receivers were really yet to hit their stride. They had to rely on a run game that Michigan players like Lamar Woodley were all too happy to viciously assault.

In the first half, the Badgers actually went up 10-7 with 5 minutes left. Then, after the defense forced a 3 and out with Michigan punting from their own 27, Hampton muffed the punt and Michigan recovered...tying the game shortly after with a field goal.

The score actually remained tied until late in the third quarter. The Badgers defense, while they had managed to pick Henne off twice, finally gave up a big PA pass to Mario Manningham for a touchdown.

Taking a closer look at Michigan, you have to consider their two losses. Ohio State and USC. Ohio State has their own story that season, going undefeated until the NCG. It's the Rose Bowl that Michigan takes crap for from that season, but the first half of that game actually ended with a score of 3-3. Late in the 3rd quarter, Michigan made a few mistakes and USC's offense wore them down, going up by a couple scores. Michigan managed to get back on the board and scored 18, but were unable to make up for the defecit started in the 3rd quarter and USC won 32-18.

You also have to look at USC, as they played both Michigan and future Wisconsin opponent Arkansas. USC was a juggernaut that somehow fell asleep at the wheel during road games with Pac 10 opponents Oregon State and UCLA. In their opener, they absolutely obliterated Arkansas 50-14 @ Arkansas. They are one of the reasons why I say the NCAA top 10 in 2006 was probably one of the deepest and toughest in history.

Arkansas

The Razorbacks themselves were force to be reckoned with. After being humiliated by USC they punished the remainder of their OOC schedule, and most of their SEC schedule, including #3 at the time and eventual 11-2 Cotton Bowl winners Auburn. They were defeated by eventual #3 ranked LSU.

The Razorbacks performed admirably against Florida in the SEC CCG, considering the Gators were hitting their stride under new coach Urban Meyer, the 38-28 score actually says a lot about Arkansas.

The Capital One Bowl

One of the first things I always bring up is that this game was one of the worst officiated games I have ever watched. Badger receivers Luke Swann and Paul Hubbard, and TE Travis Beckum had really grown by the end of the season. They were GREAT at getting open, and their chemistry with Stocco had gone up exponentially....to the point where Arkansas' defensive backs were absolutely MUGGING Swann and Hubbard and getting away with it. I remember one particular play when it looked like Stocco just missed Hubbard, but what really happened was that Hubbard couldn't elevate because a Razorback decided to cling to his facemask.

That being said, it was a hard fought battle in Orlando. Dinged up Darren McFadden was run down by Jack Ikegwonu, which was one of the most crucial plays in the game that many Arkansas fans cried over because McFadden was "only at 85%!" However, I'm not really sure I believe that. Ike was a Florida kid who had all kinds of SEC speed himself, and it was McFadden's first run of the game.

While the Badgers gave up a couple of big runs, overall they were able to keep the Razorbacks from trouncing all over them. They forced Arkansas to throw the ball, and got big interceptions from Zach Hampton and DeAndre Levy, as well as a crucial sack from Jason Chapman. There were some hiccups in the game, I believe Hampton gave up another turnover on a punt return, but he redeemed himself later with an interception....and a game ending pass defended.

One thing I remember was Joe Thomas absolutely humiliating one of the SEC's big name speed rushers. After one play where the guy tried to bull rush Thomas, ran into a wall and tried to spin, ran into a wall that MOVED and tried to cut inside only to run into that same moving wall........the Razorback freaked out and started pushing Thomas after the whistle and hit him in the facemask. Got away without a flag, probably because Thomas just stood there and looked at him like...."You've got more comin' your way boy..." It was probably the most hilarious trolling I've ever seen on the football field.

In short. The 2006 Badgers were my favorite. They finished the season #5 in the coaches poll in one of the most LOADED NCAA FBS leagues I can remember. They downed the SEC runner-up in a season when the SEC looked like it could tear through their bowl schedule. Basically all of the SEC teams were predicted to dominate in their bowl games except Florida. Unfortunately, Ohio State couldn't handle their business and both 2006 Wisconsin and 2006 Michigan reputations have suffered.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

 

[Smart]

I'd rank 2006 behind the other elite Badger teams of my football fan lifetime (1998, 1999, 2010, 2011). They were a great team but never had the explosiveness on offense that we had the last two years.

I was never sold on PJ Hill being a great running back (I mean, John Clay was better than Hill during Hill's last Year, and John Clay got outplayed by our current backup in his last year). I wholly disagree that Rentmeester was in the same league as Ewing as well. The wide receivers were meh. The line was great, but still probably worse than every other team I mentioned. Come to think of it, every team on that list boasted a top 5 OL (somebody get this memo to the current OL).

The defense was great in 2006. You won't hear me saying anything bad about a unit that never gave up more than 27 and killed that Arkansas O with McFadden and Felix Jones. The only thing i'll say is that I think the late 1990s defenses were better. And I don't think the gap between the defenses is enough to make up for the 2010 and 2011 offenses being as good as they were.

All of these teams were great and had heart. Looking through all of them, it's really too bad that none of them won the title, because all of them had the ability to.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Well you coulda waited at least an hour or so to rain on my parade.

 

[Smart]

The team that actually reminds me a lot of 2006 was the 2009 team. The QBs were more or less the same, RBs were similar (with a slight edge to Clay), similar caliber WRs and TEs, and fairly similar OLs (with an edge towards towards 2006 because of Thomas). Defensively, the two teams were both solid. 2006 had a better secondary, but the linebackers and D-Lines were more or less even (with Schofield and Shaughnessy kicking ass for each team).

The big difference is that the 2009 team was a fumble machine, and again, the secondary was much better in 2006. Still, the results were pretty similar, with one exception. Both teams dropped their games against the elite B1G teams and beat everyone else. The only place where this analogy ends and the 2006 team takes the cake is that 2009 lost to Northwestern, which was really too bad. That team had fumbles and coverage issues to begin with and that game was played in a downpour for much of the game. People slipped and fumbled. If the weather was better that day, both teams would have similar legacies, IMO.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

I have to put Stocco a half grade above Tolzien. Stocco had a bigger arm. Tolzien had the poise, but I don't think Stocco was lacking that from the first Cap 1 bowl and on. He really did a nice job of bringing Hubbard, Swann, and Beckum along. Again, he was probably our most prolific passer until Wilson.

One thing Tolzien had that might have made up for his arm, though, was that quick release. That made a big difference. He seemed a little quicker on foot, too.

I guess I have to give Schofield the nod over Shaughnessy on pure pass rush ability. Shaughnessy's injuries kind of limited his pass rush development. I hope he can put together some consecutive years in the NFL.

I have to say, with both Watt and Schofield playing the way they did in the Champs Sports bowl, I would give them even odds to beat the 2006 team in a bowl game. It didn't hurt to have Borland tearing around.

Both teams were a surprise. After the 2007 slump and the 2008 debacle, I wasn't sure who that Tolzien kid was or if he had a chance in hell....but he sure showed us. Similarly, the 2006 team saw a whole bunch of offensive skill players move on and that had usually been a sign of difficult times ahead for the Badgers.