One good quarter and two late-game comebacks do not make a good team. Barry Alvarez and his players tried to convince the slew of reporters at Monday’s press conference that they believed this, that they need to “improve” and “make adjustments” in order to keep their four-game winning streak alive.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with improving and adjusting, but how about preparing and executing? How about not overlooking supposedly lesser opponents, or picking up blitzes or playing blanket pass coverage?
It’s going to take something more than looking at film and recognizing errors for the Badgers to morph into the elite team they have a very real chance to become this season. And after four sometimes encouraging but too-often disappointing performances to open the season, the Badgers will need to improve and adjust significantly before their Big Ten opener against Penn State Oct. 5.
Wisconsin’s cake-like preseason schedule has resembled the angel-food variety: light and fluffy. And as the opponents have gotten progressively worse, so have the Badgers.
They gutted one out against a dangerous Fresno team playing without its playmaker, Bernard Berrian.
Five UNLV turnovers and 11 Rebel penalties in three and a half quarters allowed the Badgers to slip out of Vegas under cover of darkness, as the focus on the bizarre power outage drew attention away from Anthony Davis’ inability to break off runs against a less-than-stellar Rebel defense.
Without their 27-point second quarter explosion, the Badgers wouldn’t have topped Rasheed Marshall and West Virginia.
And no one, with the possible exception of David Braun, who I imagine has been waiting utterly prepared on the sidelines for four years, was ready to play against NIU. A win is a win, as Alvarez will always tell you, and the work done by Brooks Bollinger and Braun on the game-winning drive was encouraging, but no three-point win over any MAC squad (excepting Marshall) tells you that all is well.
Bottom line: UW must focus on the fundamentals in the coming weeks. Pass coverage, running the football and proper tackling, especially in the open field, must be paramount, first against Arizona and then against the Big Ten’s big boys.
After PSU, things get soft for a week, as the Badgers travel to Bloomington to tussle with a woebegone Indiana squad, but UW needs to be in top form come Oct. 19, when No. 6 Ohio State rolls into Madison.
If the Badgers thought wrapping up Michael “Burner” Turner was tough, wait until they run into Larry Johnson and Maurice Clarett, or rather, when Johnson and Clarett run into them.
The two bruising backs have provided their teams with the dominant running attack that UW is lusting for so far this year. Arm tackles won’t cut it against super-frosh Clarett, who dished out more hits against Washington State than B.J. Tucker has all season. The bruising 6-footer and emerging Heisman candidate will run all over UW if they tackle like they did against NIU, when the Burner became the Bruiser, popping UW linebackers and defensive backs to gain extra yards.
Johnson, who’s listed at 222 but appears to be about 250, punishes tacklers like they insulted his mother, and converted QB Michael Robinson, who scored two TDs in PSU’s 40-7 whooping of Nebraska, provides the flash and dash to Johnson’s smash. And unfortunately for the Badgers, the Lions’ ground game doesn’t stop there, as QB Zach Mills is a viable option threat.
UW will need Jeff Mack and Alex Lewis to be at their best against both PSU and the Buckeyes, but solid downfield coverage from Tucker and Scott Starks is essential. Too often the UW corners have let the ball get over the top of them, especially against NIU and Fresno State. Half of the time, they have made the spectacular diving breakup when their closing speed allows; the other half, it’s been a 40-yard gain. And the receivers don’t get any slower, or smaller, for that matter, once conference play starts.
And what of the vaunted UW run game? Anthony Davis’ feet seem just as quick as last season, but his decision-making appears to have slowed just a half-second, which is plenty of time for Big Ten linebackers to get an extra step and wrap up Davis, who can’t ward off tacklers like his Nittany Lion and Buckeye counterparts can.
Obviously, not all the blame can be placed on Davis, whose offensive line has routinely produced holes that even sticklike Jim Sorgi couldn’t slip through. Davis and Dwayne Smith, the Badgers’ bruiser, will need to hit top gear by the PSU date, especially if Jerone Pettus feels any lingering effects from the vicious, concussion-causing hit he suffered against NIU.
And while UW must prepare and correct and adjust or whatever before the Big Ten season opens, if the Badger squad that took the field against NIU comes out against Arizona this Saturday, Wisconsin could very well limp into conference play with an extremely shaky 4-1 record, which is a whole lot worse than a somewhat shaky 5-0 record.
The Badgers’ talent is unquestioned, their depth is underrated and their experience at most positions is unparalleled by Big Ten opponents. The patsies are past; focus and execution now become key as the Badgers begin their real schedule.
