Following a 24-21 Outback Bowl loss to Georgia and a three-game losing streak to close out the 2004 campaign, the Wisconsin football team will lose a plethora of talent.
Gone is the second-best running back in school history.
Gone is arguably the greatest defensive line in school history.
Gone is the biggest rags-to-riches, walk-on-to-star story in the nation.
Gone is the majority of the offensive line.
Gone is three-quarters of the starting secondary.
There are a variety of reasons to write the 2005 Badgers off already. However, hope still remains for the future of the UW football program.
In the past, Wisconsin teams have been grossly overrated in preseason polls by national pundits, and have eventually shown their true colors. Take the 2000 season, for example. A talent-laden UW squad featuring pro standouts Michael Bennett and Chris Chambers entered the season as national title contenders before fighting through suspensions and inconsistent play to a Sun Bowl victory. It was a nice season, but not exactly a national title.
2003 was much of the same for Badger football. “Experts” labeled Wisconsin a surprise team in the Big Ten, a team capable of claiming the top spot in the conference. The only surprise was the manner in which the Badgers’ season fell apart down the stretch after beating Ohio State. UW lost five of its last six games and limped to a loss at the hands of Auburn in the Music City Bowl.
Wisconsin will likely enter next season without any hype or great expectations, much like this year. Let’s face it — absolutely no one expected this year’s team to win nine games, and flying below the radar should serve the Badgers well once again in 2005.
In theory, next year’s squad should feature an improved passing attack. Quarterback John Stocco by then will have had a full season of starting under his belt, and has already shown significant improvement. Only inconsistent Darrin Charles graduates from the receiving corps, and with a stable featuring Brandon Williams, Jonathan Orr and Owen Daniels returning, Wisconsin will have the talent to move the ball through the air.
However, when push comes to shove, a solid running game has always been the key to any Badger offense. Granted, Wisconsin will be without a proven horse heading into the season for the first time since 2001, but realistically, Anthony Davis was anything but a consistent commodity this past year.
Colorado transfer Brian Calhoun, who gained 810 yards for the Buffs in 2003, is the top candidate to replace Davis, though Booker Stanley and Jamil Walker could also see significant playing time.
Naysayers would be wise to take a look at Davis’ own humble beginnings as the starting tailback. Davis, a relative unknown at the time, won the job in 2001 from a group composed of Broderick Williams, Jerome Pettus and Tyron “Big Train” Griffin and went on to rush for 1,466 yards.
On the defensive side, Bret Bielema will face the daunting task of replicating his unit’s 2004 success. And he will need to do it with seven new starters, including an entirely new defensive line.
Last year’s line was, without question, one of the best in the nation … until the last five games of the season. Erasmus James’ up-and-down campaign characterized the line’s play as a whole. In the first seven games of the year, James recorded seven sacks and was the best defensive end in the nation.
However, after suffering an injury against Purdue, sitting out the Northwestern game as a result and seeing limited action in UW’s thrashing of Minnesota, James posted just one sack in the season’s final three games and was largely ineffective. The defense as a whole struggled to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks after repeatedly harassing Kyle Orton in West Lafayette. Bielema’s crew totaled 25 sacks in the first seven games of the year, but recorded just nine in the final five contests.
The bottom line is next year’s defensive line cannot perform any worse than the group who allowed David Greene constant time in the pocket in the Outback Bowl loss. Big names or not, James and Co. did not play up to anyone’s expectations (or their own high opinions of themselves) down the stretch.
Without free safety Jimmy Leonhard and cornerback Scott Starks, the defense will need to search for a playmaker. Young middle linebacker Andy Crooks showed definite potential for filling that role after replacing Reggie Cribbs in the starting lineup. Fellow starting linebackers Mark Zalewski and Dontez Sanders also demonstrated ability, though both have displayed tackling deficiencies.
A wild card who could shake up the entire defense is defensive end/linebacker/safety Travis Beckum, an Oak Creek High star who has verbally committed to UW. To put Beckum’s talent into perspective, the prep standout turned down scholarship offers from Oklahoma, Miami, Michigan and Ohio State to play for Barry Alvarez.
Though the 2005 Badgers will lack some familiar faces, college football is defined by its coaches, not the student athletes who cycle in and out of its ranks. How many “experts” expected Tennessee to win a national title with Tee Martin at quarterback despite failing to do so with Peyton Manning? If Badger fans were able to put their faith in Alvarez and Bielema’s collective ability to work miracles with this year’s team, then next season should be no different.
