Week 1 Gamethread: UMass

[Smart]

I'll post more on this at some point tomorrow, but I thought i'd post this. There are a lot of questions to be answered, both with regards to players and with regards to scheme. Come Saturday, a lot of those answers will be known.

As for my predictions: Badgers 55, Minutemen 10

 

[Smart]

Alright, some of the storylines to look forward to:

1. The QB Play: Stave is getting the start, but Phillips will likely see some game play. Will both look good? Will there be a controversy? We shall see.

2. The RB carry distribution: White is getting the nominal start, but nobody really knows how the breakdown of carries will go. The percentage of White v. Gordon v. Clement will tell us a lot about the team this year.

3. The #2 WR: Frederick is starting across Abbredaris, but that is considered among the weakest starting spot. A lot of guys will get their chance to shine. Hopefully, one of them will.stand out.

4. The 3-4: Simply put, how will our team handle the new scheme? Will there be growing pains or will this squad be ready right away?

5. The Special Teams: It was the biggest problem under Bielema. Will the new staff finally solve it?

I can't wait to find out.

 

[Smart]

In case people haven't seen it, here is the depth chart:

 

[BigAppleBadger]

I think the spread is too high in this game. Don't think Anderson & co. will want to show too much against UMass, and will let off the gas early in the 2nd half if the Badgers are up big. Only exception could be if we give 3 QBs and 3 RBs plenty of touches, in which case they'll all try to show what they've got (and we could see Bart Houston throwing deep in the 4th quarter, etc).

Contra Smart, I'm not sure the distribution of snaps and carries for the QBs and RBs will tell us much about how this season will go, unless somehow it's a close game. If we've got a cushion, the staff will use this game to evaluate players.

Also hope our defense doesn't give up 10 points to these guys. I've got more confidence in the defense than offense at the moment, and that's too many points for one of the worst FBS teams.

 

[The Derski]

go Badgers!!

 

[Smart]

The marching band is on the BTN right now. Only a matter of seconds until the long offseason is over and the Gary Andersen era begins.

 

[Smart]

Looks like i'm the only Badger here, but i'll talk to myself. The first drive of the Gary Andersen era went 70 yards on 5 plays for a TD. Stave finished it with a TD run, but the star of the drive was James White. He made a great cut on a 47 yard run, and had 64 yards out of the 70.

 

[Smart]

Chris Borland forces a quick fumble, his NCAA record-tying 14th. Then Stave throws a woeful pick on the first offensive play. I'm all for proving you can spread the field, but there was a safety right there.

 

[Smart]

45-0. 597 Total Yards. 3 100 yard rushers. A 61 YPC average(!) for Abby. All in all, a pretty good game for the 1-0 Badgers.

 

[Moab]

While this looks like a complete dismantling, they have plenty of stuff to clean up. The good news is the most dramatic changes take place between week 1 and week 2 for cleaning up the mental stuff, now they just need to get to work.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

Looking forward to the game in 2 weeks the first true test for both teams.

 

[The Derski]

Great win today fellas.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Not only did Armstrong play, he and Kelly connectef for a big play. Happy to see them pitch a shutout because they really should have. They look good. Three rushers over 100 lmao.

 

[Great Dayne]

Overreaction week one analysis:

O-line: Lacked push in redzone, great pass blocking might miss old O-line coach from last season.
QB: Stave is terrible: No mobility, poor decisions, below average accuracy, etc.
RB's: Same old
WR's: Again JA is the only player on this squad
D-line: Stout vs the run and generated a little pass rush.
LB's: best in the Big 10
CB's: Some great youngsters showing great zone coverage abilities but had wide open WR's running downfield 4-5 times but never connected due to QB ineptitude.

SPT's: Still a below avg return game and Kicker

Grades
Offense: C
Defense B-
SPT's C
Coaches: C+

Solid QB play makes this team a NC contender but with Stave at the Helm the Capitol One bowl is the best we can possibly hope for.

 

[Doctor Krieger]

Worried about Stave....throws the deep ball well, but awful in the 10-25 yard routes.