Back from the Ledge

Okay, I allowed for five days of grieving after the first Badger football defeat in more than a calendar year. The loss was particularly difficult with the season-ending injury to #1 receiver Luke Swann, not to mention another buffet-style serving of swiss cheese by the disappointing Badger defense.

Once again, I turn to poor linebacker play as the root cause of the struggles, that on top of poor assignment responsibility by the DE's against the option (take the QB and allow the LB's and DB's to chase down the pitchman!). Culmer St. Jean turned in one of the most attrocious performances I have yet to witness as a Badger fan, and I'm not engaging in hyperbole here. Replacing injured starter Elijah Hodge, St. Jean spent the afternoon shooting the wrong gap, running right by ball carrriers, and with DeAndre Levy, contributed to what must have been a score of missed tackles.

Despite outgaining the Illini by more than 100 yards, the offense failed to run the ball consistently, and Lance Smith's change-up contributions were notably missing. Zach Brown did play well when called upon, but the running game was incredibly inconsistent, and PJ Hill limps into Saturday's game in Happy Valley with a groin injury. Brown will be asked to prove himself once more against one of the top run defenses in the land.

TD went to the air early and often, but from where I sit, his penchant to throw downfield contributes to unnecessary interceptions and misses the opportunities to move the sticks by throwing underneath. In addition to Beckum (thank God for #9!), PJ Hill and Zach Brown should be open in the flats and hook zones for 5 yard gains all day as defenses charge hard to stop the run. The bubble screen should also be effective against the Nittany Lions.

Let's hope that the defense can improve against a solid, but not superb Penn St. offense, and that the offense can control the clock through a power running game and dink and dunk passing game. We also lost the ST battle last Saturday in all facets of the game, from returns, to kickoff and punt coverage, to a missed field goal, even a botched 2-point conversion. Make the FG and the conversion, and the game is tied at 31.

TR said it best. Win on Saturday and we're still California dreamin'. Lose and we'll be eating Kangaroo burgers at Outback in Tampa (or worse). Coach B rallied the troops after a BT opening loss at Michigan last year and ran the table. Here's hoping for a reprise act.