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Football Preview: Wisconsin
Sept. 3, 2010
By Larry Watts Badger fans are hoping the hunt for a Red October will produce Pasadena roses for their Wisconsin football team this fall. And there is plenty of reason for the fans in Madison, Wis. to have great expectations since a Big Ten-high 18 starters return. Of those 18 starters, 10 are back on the offensive side of the ball, where it's a matter of picking your poison. It's either having a massive line, which should be weighed only at truck stops, clearing the path for the 248-pound John Clay, the Big Ten's leading rusher in 2009, or having quarterback Scott Tolzien, the conference leader in pass efficiency last year, pick apart your secondary with his play-action passes. Either way, the Badgers led the nation in possession time (33:55) while marching to a 10-3 record (5-3 Big Ten) last year. Providing the Badgers don't stumble in their September nonconference schedule, which includes three home games, the real tests come in October. They open their Big Ten slate at Michigan State Oct. 2 and then conclude the month by hosting Ohio State (Oct. 16) and visiting Iowa (Oct. 23). Many experts have already picked the Ohio State-Iowa battle as the deciding game in the Big Ten, but they didn't ask for Wisconsin's opinion. Head coach Bret Bielema (38-14) begins his fifth season at UNLV Saturday. OFFENSE: It all begins up front on that massive line, where all five starters return. Heading into fall camp, fifth-year seniors Gabe Carimi (6-7, 327) and John Moffitt (6-5, 323), both first team All-Big Ten honorees in 2009, anchored the left side with juniors Josh Oglesby (6-7, 335) and Kevin Zeitler (6-4, 315) on the right while sophomore Peter Konz (6-5, 313) was back doing the snaps. However, Bielema started moving some of the pieces around midway through camp. Moffitt was shifted to center, where he started in 2008 season and the final two games last year when Konz was sidelined by a blood clot in his lung. Sophomore Travis Frederick (6-4, 326) moved in for Moffitt while redshirt freshman Ryan Groy (-5, 305) was getting reps as both Zeitler and Bill Nagy (6-3, 318) were nursing injuries. Nagy, a fifth-year senior, has been a starter but was limited to three games last year because of an ankle injury. With that kind of prime beef clearing the way, Clay, a junior, rumbled to 1,517 yards and 18 touchdowns while picking up offensive player of the year honors in the Big Ten last season. Clay, who had surgery on both ankles in the offseason, has plenty of support. Sophomore Montee Brown rushed for 391 yards in nine games last year while senior Zach Brown made five starts and accumulated 279 yards. Tolzien rarely missed a beat when he emerged as the Badgers' starting quarterback last fall. All the fifth-year senior did was complete 64.3 percent of his passes for 2,705 yards and 16 touchdowns with a pass efficiency rating of 143.0. And if the Badger offense puts the kind of points on the board as expected, then redshirt freshman Jon Budmayr should see plenty of time on the field. Tight end Garrett Graham, the team's most valuable player in 2009, has graduated, but that hole has been filled by 6-4 fifth-year senior Lance Kendricks, a starter at wide receiver where he caught 29 passes for 356 yards. And if the Badgers are in the need for more blocking, junior Jake Byrne (6-4, 257) will get the call. When the Badgers need to add a little more to their jumbo package, defensive end J.J. Watt (6-6, 285) played tight end at Central Michigan before landing in Madison. Led by junior Nick Toon (54 catches, 805 yards) and senior Isaac Anderson (30, 480), Tolzien has a wealth of options at wide receiver. The newcomer to the starting group is senior David Gilreath, who had 12 catches for a 14.8-yard average last year. The support group is led by 6-4 senior Kyle Jefferson and Jared Abbrederis, a walk-on who impressed during the spring.
DEFENSE: Watt, a junior, is the lone returning starter on the defensive front. A star on the rise, he posted 15.5 tackles for loss last season. Junior Louis Nzegwu (6-4, 247) and sophomore David Gilbert (6-4, 240) take on the task of replacing O'Brien Schofield, who led the team with 24.5 TFLs and 12 sacks in 2009. In the middle of the line, junior Patrick Butrym (6-4, 284), who made two starts last season, and redshirt freshman Jordan Kohout (6-3, 290) will get first call. Walk-on Ethan Hemer (6-6, 290) made a big move during the spring while Badger fans could see true freshman Beau Allen (6-0, 300) early this fall. At linebacker, sixth-year senior Culmer St. Jean (63 tackles) returns to start in the middle and sophomore Mike Taylor started on the wide side of the field. However, Taylor had a second knee surgery and is expected to miss the opener with UNLV. The Badger coaching staff is counting on a big year from sophomore Chris Borland on the short side. Borland was the Big Ten's freshman of the year after scoring 10.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks in 2009. Senior Blake Sorenson is a very able replacement for all three positions. Although he is only 5-9, strong safety Jay Valai, a sixth-year senior, is regarded as one of the hardest hitters in the Big Ten. Juniors Devin Smith and Antonio Fenelus and senior Niles Brinkley combined for 24 starts at corner last year. Former cornerback Aaron Henry, a junior, is still adjusting at free safety after sitting out the 2008 season with a torn ACL. SPECIAL TEAMS: Juniors Brad Nortman and Philip Welch, both two-year starters, return to handle the Badgers' kicking chores. Nortman is the top returning punter in the conference with a 42-yard average. Welch was 17-for-24 in field goals, but he missed his first three attempts of the season and was only 3-of-6 combined against Iowa and Ohio State. Gilreath, who was sixth in the Big Ten in punt returns (5.6 yards) and eighth in kickoffs (23.7), is back at Wisconsin's return specialist. MISCELLANEOUS: Wisconsin has gone with six fifth-year seniors as captains for 2010 -- Valai, Tolzien, Carimi, Moffitt, Kendricks and St. Jean. Former Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez (1990-2005), now the school's director of athletics, will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year. Alvarez posted a 118-73-4 record in his 16 seasons, winning three Big Ten titles, with the Badgers. The only coach in the conference to win back-to-back Rose Bowl titles, he was named the national coach of the year in 1993 and the Big Ten coach of the year in 1993 and 1998. He was 8-3 in bowl games with the Badgers. Wisconsin players are drawing quite a bit of attention in the preseason watch lists for national awards. Among the Badger candidates are Borland (Bednarik, Butkus, Lombardi and Nagurski), Clay (Walker, Maxwell and Camp), Tolzien (Maxwell, O'Brien and Manning), Carimi (Outland and Lombardi), Watt (Bednarik and Nagurski), Kendricks (Lombardi and Mackey), Moffitt (Lombardi), Oglesby (Outland), Toon (Biletnikoff) and Konz (Rimington). |
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