Okay, lets talk last week...
No surprise that Wisconsin lost. That line was weird. With that being said, that is obviously a misleading final score. Notre Dame had 248 yards of offense, and lost that battle by 60+ yards. The Badger defense is legit, still. We know how that 4th went and 31 points is still crazy to me. Imagine having the under in that game?
I feel terrible for Nebraska. They played a helluva 2nd half. That defense was damn good and they deserved to win that game. The huskers have played really good defensively the last several weeks. One special teams play though, and a really bad one at that. The Spartans boxed up some of the old lucky charms and got the victory. I think this kind of game was good for them, to bring them back to earth slightly, and they will continue to improve as a result of it.
Penn State was sluggish a bit vs Nova and gave up some 4th quarter scores. The run game was non-existent, albeit the big guns hardly played. With that being said, the 3.4 ypc team wide is not good and this will hurt them when they play teams with a pulse in the secondary in league play. That really is the missing part for them to be an elite team at this point. The schedule gets tough pretty quick...
Gonna skip the rest of the games since I didn't see anything else...now onto Rutgers and Michigan...
I knew this would be a tough game. Shiano has Rutgers in just about every game and they simply play hard each and every week. Michigan with a big game on deck as well... the first half went just fine but seemingly the Wolverines started thinking about next week at halftime... Lets address some issues...
1. QB -- I like the way this team has progressed overall but in order to get to where they can be, they need more than a game manager. Cade is a gamer, but he has his limitations. Now, on the other hand, JJ is electric and has all the tools but will make mistakes that could be costly. In my opinion, I would rather lose a game or two this year they should win and get this kid into games. I think they would also win a game or two they shouldn't with him at the helm. You can still lean on a good running game and an improved defense while also adding another dimension. We shall see...
Cade got his bell rung and was hesitant in the latter going, no doubt. The o-line had their worst game and part of that was Rutgers executed what they wanted to do very well.
On the other end... the DL is the softest part of the defense and they got beat up a little bit in the 2h which brings us to...
2. DL -- This is the area that was neglected recruiting-wise under Don Brown and that will show at times. This week is a real litmus test playing vs a Wisconsin team that has demoralized the defense 2 years running...
3. Passing Game -- The fans really want to see more out of the passing game. Reading any Michigan board is nauseating, as the same stuff is repeated over and over. The Rutgers game did nothing to dispel the displeasures of the fans. Yes, a few big plays but overall not enough to give much confidence going into next week. This correlates with #1 obviously. To beat good teams, you must be able to make plays through the year, simple as that. That is the BIG question as we enter Wisconsin week...
