It's usually hard for me to watch these close losses but it really showed what this team can do when they have a lot to play for, despite playing with so many injuries and obvious weaknesses.
QB - We've hashed over TA enough and this game wasn't anything different. He made some good plays, but it just doesn't make up for the fact that Wisconsin knew he couldn't find a secondary receiver more than 1 in 10 times. To be honest, they did the same thing to J.T. Barrett with a lot of success. The 2 inexplicable interceptions TA threw were back breakers. Wisconsin seems to be able to defend dual threat QBs really well. A QB with the ability to find secondary receivers in that game would have put up 35 or more on Wisconsin. I hope that's the case this year.
Running Game - As was the case for the past several years, TA's lack of sophistication in the passing game really hurt our running game in this one. Eight guys in the box almost all of the time against an OL that had at it's core on the OL Hahn, Utter, and Whitaker. These guys got no push for most of the night and were often pushed back. One has to believe that an interior OL with Foster, Conrad, and Farmer, all a year older and stronger will be a night and day difference for the running game. Our running backs ran very well for as little space that they had. They're all a year older, wiser, and stronger now too.
OTs - The interior guys hopefully are considerably improved, but man, in the Wisconsin game last year, Knevil and Gates were alienated for the most part by the Wisconsin DEs, something I didn't see very clearly the first time. I know that Knevil was hurt and weak from not lifting and Gates was nursing an ankle injury, but it was ugly. Again, we probably can expect considerable improvement if they stay healthy and Gates will now have a year of experience on the left side under his belt. But this position seems key to the whole offense. If our OTs pass protect like they did in that game, Lee might not make it through the game.
DPE and Morgan were our 2 best receivers in this game. Westy made a few catches, but honestly, if I had to choose between DPE and Morgan coming back and Westy and Reilly coming back, it would be the first 2 and it wouldn't even be close.
Overall, our defense played an very good and inspired game. I was at the tOSU game the following week and the defense that showed up there was 10% of what played in Madison. We gave up some big plays in Madison, but it was a really good effort.
After watching and understanding the injury and QB situation we were in last year, it just seems like we have a lot more upside than they do. They lost a lot at RB and in the defensive front 7 from a team that was probably as good as they have had sans 2011. I really expect us to break the Wisconsin hex this year and moving forward.
QB - We've hashed over TA enough and this game wasn't anything different. He made some good plays, but it just doesn't make up for the fact that Wisconsin knew he couldn't find a secondary receiver more than 1 in 10 times. To be honest, they did the same thing to J.T. Barrett with a lot of success. The 2 inexplicable interceptions TA threw were back breakers. Wisconsin seems to be able to defend dual threat QBs really well. A QB with the ability to find secondary receivers in that game would have put up 35 or more on Wisconsin. I hope that's the case this year.
Running Game - As was the case for the past several years, TA's lack of sophistication in the passing game really hurt our running game in this one. Eight guys in the box almost all of the time against an OL that had at it's core on the OL Hahn, Utter, and Whitaker. These guys got no push for most of the night and were often pushed back. One has to believe that an interior OL with Foster, Conrad, and Farmer, all a year older and stronger will be a night and day difference for the running game. Our running backs ran very well for as little space that they had. They're all a year older, wiser, and stronger now too.
OTs - The interior guys hopefully are considerably improved, but man, in the Wisconsin game last year, Knevil and Gates were alienated for the most part by the Wisconsin DEs, something I didn't see very clearly the first time. I know that Knevil was hurt and weak from not lifting and Gates was nursing an ankle injury, but it was ugly. Again, we probably can expect considerable improvement if they stay healthy and Gates will now have a year of experience on the left side under his belt. But this position seems key to the whole offense. If our OTs pass protect like they did in that game, Lee might not make it through the game.
DPE and Morgan were our 2 best receivers in this game. Westy made a few catches, but honestly, if I had to choose between DPE and Morgan coming back and Westy and Reilly coming back, it would be the first 2 and it wouldn't even be close.
Overall, our defense played an very good and inspired game. I was at the tOSU game the following week and the defense that showed up there was 10% of what played in Madison. We gave up some big plays in Madison, but it was a really good effort.
After watching and understanding the injury and QB situation we were in last year, it just seems like we have a lot more upside than they do. They lost a lot at RB and in the defensive front 7 from a team that was probably as good as they have had sans 2011. I really expect us to break the Wisconsin hex this year and moving forward.
