UWRX95 wrote: They're pretty good at stopping the run, although I think the 2.8 average is inflated by the many sacks they've gotten.  Looking at total defense as a whole, they're slightly better than we are.

They do give up a lot of yards in the air but I think that's because of the PAC12's pass friendly offenses as well as Stanford's good running D.

Redball31 wrote: The TCU Rose Bowl put that whole lineman weight ratio to rest...A least against the higher rated defenses with athletes.

falicy3 wrote:

Redball31 wrote: The TCU Rose Bowl put that whole lineman weight ratio to rest...A least against the higher rated defenses with athletes.

It actually didn't do anything.  Our coaches failed hard.  They could not stop John Clay up the middle 3 consecutive times if their lives depended on it.  However, they felt it necessary to get cute and run a stretch play with Ball or White to give their linebackers a chance.

UnknownBadger wrote:

falicy3 wrote:

Redball31 wrote: The TCU Rose Bowl put that whole lineman weight ratio to rest...A least against the higher rated defenses with athletes.

It actually didn't do anything.  Our coaches failed hard.  They could not stop John Clay up the middle 3 consecutive times if their lives depended on it.  However, they felt it necessary to get cute and run a stretch play with Ball or White to give their linebackers a chance.

Big strawman, perpetuated by a number here. Both Ball and Clay gained major yards running around Tackle. Both had big gains outside the tackle. White carried 8 times total but was the leading rusher for the season so please tell me how you put him on the bench for the entire game. Some people just want to come up with a reason, and you are one!

falicy3 wrote:

UnknownBadger wrote:

falicy3 wrote:

Redball31 wrote: The TCU Rose Bowl put that whole lineman weight ratio to rest...A least against the higher rated defenses with athletes.

It actually didn't do anything.  Our coaches failed hard.  They could not stop John Clay up the middle 3 consecutive times if their lives depended on it.  However, they felt it necessary to get cute and run a stretch play with Ball or White to give their linebackers a chance.

Big strawman, perpetuated by a number here. Both Ball and Clay gained major yards running around Tackle. Both had big gains outside the tackle. White carried 8 times total but was the leading rusher for the season so please tell me how you put him on the bench for the entire game. Some people just want to come up with a reason, and you are one!

Who cares who the leading rusher was?  Why run outside when that's the strength of their defense.  The fact is, they could not stop the dive plays up the middle.  Had they done that more than the off tackle runs we would have won the game going away.

jjjjgreenbay wrote: they like to throw to that tightend arnt. he is a tall beast. they use the other guy too. they also use multiple backs, the linebackers will have to follow them out of the backfield as they like to throw to them. they have a real effective run play where they pull the guard and exploit the gap created by a double team by the center and the other guard. i say hold them to 14 pts or less and wisco has chance, as that seems to be the number for them all season. the defense must come to play.

it's hard to get big running plays against these guys. their defenders are spread out and they are good at flying to the ball. i'd actuall like to see us use some misdirection. fake them reacting one way then go against the grain for an offensive strike. might work to get our own rbs and fbs out in space on a curl pattern out of backfield. offense needs to score on every possession, ideally - touchedown!!!
On Wisconsin

Stanfordebate wrote: ...the offense needs to score on every possession...yes, that would be ideal for the Badgers; heck, that would also be ideal for Stanford if we could score in the same fashion... :)

jjjjgreenbay wrote: they like to throw to that tightend arnt. he is a tall beast. they use the other guy too. they also use multiple backs, the linebackers will have to follow them out of the backfield as they like to throw to them. they have a real effective run play where they pull the guard and exploit the gap created by a double team by the center and the other guard. i say hold them to 14 pts or less and wisco has chance, as that seems to be the number for them all season. the defense must come to play.

it's hard to get big running plays against these guys. their defenders are spread out and they are good at flying to the ball. i'd actuall like to see us use some misdirection. fake them reacting one way then go against the grain for an offensive strike. might work to get our own rbs and fbs out in space on a curl pattern out of backfield. offense needs to score on every possession, ideally - touchedown!!!
On Wisconsin

jjjjgreenbay wrote:

it's hard to get big running plays against these guys. their defenders are spread out and they are good at flying to the ball. i'd actuall like to see us use some misdirection. fake them reacting one way then go against the grain for an offensive strike. might work to get our own rbs and fbs out in space on a curl pattern out of backfield. offense needs to score on every possession, ideally - touchedown!!!
On Wisconsin

CardSince84 wrote: Let me help you out - I've seen 8 Stanford games so far this year.

The first thing you need to worry about is Stanford's front 7.  With or without NT Stephens (ineligible for RB), this is the best front 7 in the country - better than ND's.  The only running games that have had any success are VERY different from Wisconsin's - Oregon and UCLA run much faster backs, with quick traps and slash-type runs.  Nobody has had ANY success with a power running game against Stanford this year.  However, I think that Wiconsin's offense vs. Stanford's defense is a wash.  You guys will get yours.  Ball may go over 100, but he's going to need 30+ carries to do it.

Wisconsin's bigger challenge will be slowing Stanford's attack.  When you look at Stanford's offense, you need to focus on the second half of the season (since Colorado) when Hogan took over for Nunes at QB.  Since then, there has been a marked improvement, both in the variety of plays called and in productivity.  You might be able to slow down Stepfan Taylor - who is every bit as good as Ball - but Stanford's passing game is better than Wisconsin's and I think this will be the difference in the game.

I don't see Wisconsin putting up more than 20 points.  The question is whether your defense can hold Stanford to a similar total.  I'm not convinced that will happen, seeing as the only teams to hold our offense under 20 are Oregon and ND.  But of course my perspective is biased - as is yours :)

I hope it's a close game.  I don't want to see a blowout.

CardSince84 wrote: Let me help you out - I've seen 8 Stanford games so far this year.

The first thing you need to worry about is Stanford's front 7.  With or without NT Stephens (ineligible for RB), this is the best front 7 in the country - better than ND's.  

Ball may go over 100, but he's going to need 30+ carries to do it.

I think the best front 7 in the nation is hogwash.
How do you explain the Huskies being able to run the ball on you then?  You've allowed 14 TDs on the ground.  That's not an indication of being able to stop the opponent.

Stepfan Taylor is at the same level as the career rushing TD holder in the history of the NCAA?  No.  The question is, can Taylor can get 100 against against Borland and Mike Taylor?  He only averaged 3.3 per carry in your last game.  Wisconsin is much better than UCLA in run defense.

CardSince84 wrote:

I hope it's a close game.  I don't want to see a blowout.

CardSince84 wrote: Let me help you out - I've seen 8 Stanford games so far this year.

The first thing you need to worry about is Stanford's front 7.  With or without NT Stephens (ineligible for RB), this is the best front 7 in the country - better than ND's.  The only running games that have had any success are VERY different from Wisconsin's - Oregon and UCLA run much faster backs, with quick traps and slash-type runs.  Nobody has had ANY success with a power running game against Stanford this year.  However, I think that Wiconsin's offense vs. Stanford's defense is a wash.  You guys will get yours.  Ball may go over 100, but he's going to need 30+ carries to do it.

I would argue we've already seen 1 defense this year that has a front 7 as good or better in MSU. They held 7 opponents to under 100 yards rushing this year.  Stanford held 8 opponents to under 100 yards.  The big difference here is that MSU was 102nd in sacks.  Part of this is because Stanford saw more pass happy offenses than MSU.  Sack yardage skews Stanfords numbers alot especially considering that 17 of those sacks came against WSU and Colorado.  Another thing is that MSU's offense is just awful which makes it even more amazing they held up as well as they did. Stanford has a great front 7 but I wouldn't argue they are the best even with Stephens playing let alone without him.

As for UCLA having faster backs, I would put Melvin Gordon up against any of them. We do run a power attack but recently we've used a lot more misdirection with Gordon.  So no we are not Oregon or UCLA but don't expect 90% of the runs to be between the tackles either. 

Wisconsin's bigger challenge will be slowing Stanford's attack.  When you look at Stanford's offense, you need to focus on the second half of the season (since Colorado) when Hogan took over for Nunes at QB.  Since then, there has been a marked improvement, both in the variety of plays called and in productivity.  You might be able to slow down Stepfan Taylor - who is every bit as good as Ball - but Stanford's passing game is better than Wisconsin's and I think this will be the difference in the game.

Stanfords passing game is definitely better than Wisconsin's, but calling Taylor every bit as good as Ball is pretty funny.  He's a good back that I think will do well in the NFL, but he's done nothing to show he is as good as Ball in college.  Ball has run for over 200 yards in a game 4 times and is the NCAA all time leader in touchdowns.  Hell I'd say Phillips is more comparable in production to Hogan than Taylor to Ball. 

I don't see Wisconsin putting up more than 20 points.  The question is whether your defense can hold Stanford to a similar total.  I'm not convinced that will happen, seeing as the only teams to hold our offense under 20 are Oregon and ND.  But of course my perspective is biased - as is yours :)

Washington also held you guys to 13 points.  We averaged giving up less than 20 ppg while Oregon averaged giving up more than 20 ppg, so I don't really get that part. The thing I find most interesting is that we both have top 20 defense's.  We also have a top 50 offense and Stanford does not.  It looks like about as even a match up on paper as you could find. 

I hope it's a close game.  I don't want to see a blowout.

CardSince84 wrote: I'd look at the competition before you stack up MSU's run defense against Stanford's.  And if you want to talk about skewing results, let's talk about Northern Iowa, UTEP, Illinois, and Indiana.  You had your cupcakes too - everyone does.  Let's not compare who each team played - you have ONE victory over a top 25 team.  We have five.  And if you want to talk about your OT losses, well we had one too - on the road against #1 ND.

Taylor is 4.8 ypc vs. 5.2 for Ball.  Pretty close.

As for Washington holding us to 13 points, that was with Nunes at QB.  The only opponent to hold Stanford under 27 since Hogan took over was Oregon, and you're nuts if you think your defense is as good as theirs.  It was also raining and in the low 40s that night and in a VERY hostile stadium.  The Rose Bowl will have twice as many Stanford fans as Wisconsin fans, and the weather forecast is for sunny and mid- to upper-60s.

Like I said, I hope it's close.

CardSince84 wrote: Let me help you out - I've seen 8 Stanford games so far this year.

The first thing you need to worry about is Stanford's front 7.  With or without NT Stephens (ineligible for RB), this is the best front 7 in the country - better than ND's.  The only running games that have had any success are VERY different from Wisconsin's - Oregon and UCLA run much faster backs, with quick traps and slash-type runs.  Nobody has had ANY success with a power running game against Stanford this year.  However, I think that Wiconsin's offense vs. Stanford's defense is a wash.  You guys will get yours.  Ball may go over 100, but he's going to need 30+ carries to do it.

Wisconsin's bigger challenge will be slowing Stanford's attack.  When you look at Stanford's offense, you need to focus on the second half of the season (since Colorado) when Hogan took over for Nunes at QB.  Since then, there has been a marked improvement, both in the variety of plays called and in productivity.  You might be able to slow down Stepfan Taylor - who is every bit as good as Ball - but Stanford's passing game is better than Wisconsin's and I think this will be the difference in the game.

I don't see Wisconsin putting up more than 20 points.  The question is whether your defense can hold Stanford to a similar total.  I'm not convinced that will happen, seeing as the only teams to hold our offense under 20 are Oregon and ND.  But of course my perspective is biased - as is yours :)

I hope it's a close game.  I don't want to see a blowout.

buckysaxe wrote: Considering Wisconsin's defense was the only thing holding the team together during the first half of the season (while Ball was getting creamed 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage due to a grossly miscoached O-line), and held the Ohio St. offense to 7 points in regulation without their best player, I'll take them against almost any defense in the nation (outside of LSU, Alabama, MSU or ND). Oregon gave up 51 points to USC; that's the example you want to go with?

Neither Wisconsin nor Stanford has lost by more than a TD this year (or in Wisconsin's case, since 2010), so there will definitely be a close contest.

CardSince84 wrote: I'd look at the competition before you stack up MSU's run defense against Stanford's.  And if you want to talk about skewing results, let's talk about Northern Iowa, UTEP, Illinois, and Indiana.  You had your cupcakes too - everyone does.  Let's not compare who each team played - you have ONE victory over a top 25 team.  We have five.  And if you want to talk about your OT losses, well we had one too - on the road against #1 ND.

Taylor is 4.8 ypc vs. 5.2 for Ball.  Pretty close.

As for Washington holding us to 13 points, that was with Nunes at QB.  The only opponent to hold Stanford under 27 since Hogan took over was Oregon, and you're nuts if you think your defense is as good as theirs.  It was also raining and in the low 40s that night and in a VERY hostile stadium.  The Rose Bowl will have twice as many Stanford fans as Wisconsin fans, and the weather forecast is for sunny and mid- to upper-60s.

Like I said, I hope it's close.

buckysaxe wrote: Considering Wisconsin's defense was the only thing holding the team together during the first half of the season (while Ball was getting creamed 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage due to a grossly miscoached O-line), and held the Ohio St. offense to 7 points in regulation without their best player, I'll take them against almost any defense in the nation (outside of LSU, Alabama, MSU or ND). Oregon gave up 51 points to USC; that's the example you want to go with?

Neither Wisconsin nor Stanford has lost by more than a TD this year (or in Wisconsin's case, since 2010), so there will definitely be a close contest.

CardSince84 wrote: I'd look at the competition before you stack up MSU's run defense against Stanford's.  And if you want to talk about skewing results, let's talk about Northern Iowa, UTEP, Illinois, and Indiana.  You had your cupcakes too - everyone does.  Let's not compare who each team played - you have ONE victory over a top 25 team.  We have five.  And if you want to talk about your OT losses, well we had one too - on the road against #1 ND.

Taylor is 4.8 ypc vs. 5.2 for Ball.  Pretty close.

As for Washington holding us to 13 points, that was with Nunes at QB.  The only opponent to hold Stanford under 27 since Hogan took over was Oregon, and you're nuts if you think your defense is as good as theirs.  It was also raining and in the low 40s that night and in a VERY hostile stadium.  The Rose Bowl will have twice as many Stanford fans as Wisconsin fans, and the weather forecast is for sunny and mid- to upper-60s.

Like I said, I hope it's close.

CardSince84 wrote: Let me help you out - I've seen 8 Stanford games so far this year.

The first thing you need to worry about is Stanford's front 7.  With or without NT Stephens (ineligible for RB), this is the best front 7 in the country - better than ND's.  The only running games that have had any success are VERY different from Wisconsin's - Oregon and UCLA run much faster backs, with quick traps and slash-type runs.  Nobody has had ANY success with a power running game against Stanford this year.  However, I think that Wiconsin's offense vs. Stanford's defense is a wash.  You guys will get yours.  Ball may go over 100, but he's going to need 30+ carries to do it.

Wisconsin's bigger challenge will be slowing Stanford's attack.  When you look at Stanford's offense, you need to focus on the second half of the season (since Colorado) when Hogan took over for Nunes at QB.  Since then, there has been a marked improvement, both in the variety of plays called and in productivity.  You might be able to slow down Stepfan Taylor - who is every bit as good as Ball - but Stanford's passing game is better than Wisconsin's and I think this will be the difference in the game.

I don't see Wisconsin putting up more than 20 points.  The question is whether your defense can hold Stanford to a similar total.  I'm not convinced that will happen, seeing as the only teams to hold our offense under 20 are Oregon and ND.  But of course my perspective is biased - as is yours :)

I hope it's a close game.  I don't want to see a blowout.

CardSince84 wrote: Let me help you out - I've seen 8 Stanford games so far this year.

The first thing you need to worry about is Stanford's front 7.  With or without NT Stephens (ineligible for RB), this is the best front 7 in the country - better than ND's.  The only running games that have had any success are VERY different from Wisconsin's - Oregon and UCLA run much faster backs, with quick traps and slash-type runs.  Nobody has had ANY success with a power running game against Stanford this year.  However, I think that Wiconsin's offense vs. Stanford's defense is a wash.  You guys will get yours.  Ball may go over 100, but he's going to need 30+ carries to do it.

Wisconsin's bigger challenge will be slowing Stanford's attack.  When you look at Stanford's offense, you need to focus on the second half of the season (since Colorado) when Hogan took over for Nunes at QB.  Since then, there has been a marked improvement, both in the variety of plays called and in productivity.  You might be able to slow down Stepfan Taylor - who is every bit as good as Ball - but Stanford's passing game is better than Wisconsin's and I think this will be the difference in the game.

I don't see Wisconsin putting up more than 20 points.  The question is whether your defense can hold Stanford to a similar total.  I'm not convinced that will happen, seeing as the only teams to hold our offense under 20 are Oregon and ND.  But of course my perspective is biased - as is yours :)

I hope it's a close game.  I don't want to see a blowout.