Out of Office

Paging the Badger defense. Through five games, the vaunted Red Storm has failed to materialize, particularly in the first half. It goes without saying that a failure to plug the identified holes outlined below will result in a loss to the upstart Illini.

1. To date, the linebacker play has been simply atrocious. Casillas, Levy, and Hodge are simply too talented to exhibit such mediocrity week in, week out. Kudos to Casillas for his touchdown-saving tackle at the beginning of the second half last Saturday, and to Hodge for finally jumping MSU's swing pass to the trips side, but these plays fail to offset the poor positioning, tackle angles, and inability to shed blocks that have victimized this unit and placed undue pressure on the secondary.

2. The safeties have failed to live up to their name, permitting big plays in a way that Rogers and Stellmacher forbade last season. Missed tackles and poor angles are the cause, not to mention missed assignments, particularly with men in motion. Ike's illness and injury have slowed him down, and Langford provides too large of a cushion for my comfort and fails to play the ball upon arrival. Benn will exploit the entire unit on Saturday should they fail once again to come to the party. Kudos to the froshie Aaron Henry for filling the aforementioned gap and providing great pressure on the QB from the secondary.

3. The D-line has probably played best as a unit, most notably Nick Hayden. Chapman hasn't made much noise to date, nor has Shaughnessy. Newkirk is playing out of position, but has certainly contributed, and DeCremer looks like a keeper. Our three-man rush on pass downs has been mostly ineffective, and the line has made few tackles for loss on running plays. Most of their tackles are seemingly downfield. The loss of Cooper hurts on 3rd and long.