We could sit here and overanalyze what took place on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium last night, but that feels too much like opening a gapping wound. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see Wisconsin was outclassed by Ohio State in a 59-0 loss.
Yes, it was painful and yes it was historically bad — as in hasn’t happened since 1979 bad — but focusing solely on what took place last night isn’t really productive. Wisconsin needs to move forward, put that game in the way back of the memory and concentrate on how to never let that happen to them again.
In an effort to figure out where to go moving forward we’re offering up five suggestions for how the Badgers go from being blown off the field by the Buckeyes to being able to compete on the same level.
The good news is that some of these things are already happening, but some may require some painful soul-searching. So, let’s get to that list of things UW needs to do to be “elite.”
(In no particular Order)
Find a Dynamic Quarterback
If ever there was a clear difference between the Badgers and Buckeyes it was highlighted by the quarterback position last night. Wisconsin put out a guy who threw three interceptions and couldn’t throw his way out of a paper bag (and yes he was under pressure). Ohio State trotted out a “third-string” quarterback who torched the Badgers like he’d been playing all season long.
Wisconsin simply didn’t have what it took from the quarterback position to settle the team down and start making plays in the face of a dynamic defense and offense sitting across the field from them. There was little doubt left that UW needs something very different at QB.
Is it a running quarterback with an arm like the Buckeyes have at three different levels? It appears that is where the Badgers are heading and it may come at just the right time to change the Badgers fortunes on offense.
Remember, Melvin Gordon won’t be here to carry the team on his back. While Corey Clement appears to have star power, it sure would be nice to have some help at QB in case things aren’t going well at times in the run game. You know, the exact opposite of what happened last night.
As for the answer at QB, we’ll soon find out because one has to believe it will be back to the drawing board at the position this offseason. With heralded recruit Austin Kafentzis just weeks away from enrolling at Madison and D.J. Gillins having gone through a season of seasoning as a redshirt there could be two dynamic options available for the Badgers to chose from.
The only question will be if UW rips the Band-Aid off and goes with the young but dynamic option and let them learn on the job, or will it stick with what it knows can be OK, but not dynamic in Joel Stave. Personally, it needs to be the former and not the latter, and you’ll see why in a few moments.
Find Dynamic Receiving Options
Last night everyone wanted to lay blame at the arm and mind of Joel Stave, however it takes two things for a passing game to be dynamic and one of them also happens to be having receivers. Wisconsin has one of them in Alex Erickson and that’s it right now. Going forward that won’t cut it, and the Badger coaching staff knows it.
However, this is one that may be on its way to happening, as the Badgers did get three big time recruits in the 2014 class. However, this program isn’t on the level of Ohio State where you can plug and play a wide receiver from the word go.
Reality is, Krenwick Sanders, George Rushing and Natrell Jamerson need time to develop. Rushing saw some playing time and same with Sanders, but they just weren’t 100 percent ready to jump in and make a difference at the collegiate level in their freshman seasons.
Having the light bulb go off this offseason would be greatly helpful to the Badgers chances of changing things around on offense. Sure, UW will always like to run the football and it needs to be how this program is built, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also want some balance and be able to scare people through the air too.
Just look at what OSU is able to do with good receivers and a good running game. You can have the best of both worlds if you want it.
Wisconsin could develop those options this offseason, and it may be good to rip up things at QB and WR and let the group figure things out on their own. Find a quarterback and a group of receivers that work well together and have chemistry, and then put them on the field on Saturday’s and see what happens.
It couldn’t be much worse than what we saw in 2014, right?
Get More Speed on Defense
Did anyone catch the name of that silver bullet train that ran over the Badgers supposedly elite defense last night? I mean, it wasn’t even close between the two sides of the ball and it all had to do with a lack of speed on one side and an abundance of it on the other.
Watching Ezekiel Elliott run right up the middle and never get touched was disheartening, but so was watching UW try and stop anything done on the edges of the field. Simply put, Wisconsin was left chasing play after play and it was because they didn’t have the speed to keep most OSU playmakers in front of them in one-on-one situations.
Jalin Marshall will be giving UW defenders nightmares for the next month, while Devin Smith had his way with any and all defensive backs the Badgers put on him.
The only answer to combat what OSU and other elite teams put on the field is to match them athletically.
Wisconsin knows this and is recruiting very different players to fit the 3-4 defense it wants to run. The problem is, that group wasn’t on the field yesterday and is likely a year or two away from making the big difference needed to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Ohio State.
Recruiting the likes of a Nate Howard at defensive end and Chris Orr, Dominic Sheppard and Jordan Griffin at linebacker can go a long way. It just remains to be seen how quickly these guys will rise up the depth chart and be ready at the collegiate level to make an impact.
For the sake of competing at the elite level, let’s hope the answers come sooner than later.
Figure Out Offensive Identity…
Wisconsin wants to be something on offense; it just isn’t sure what that something is. We all know it will include a downhill power-based run game. Yet, there are different ways to go about it and it seems like offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig is stuck in between two philosophies.
On the one hand, Gary Andersen clearly wants to be more of a spread-look team. That means more read-option and more running from the quarterback in general. It also means finding wide receivers that can get lose in the passing game.
Yet, Wisconsin’s reality in 2014 is that the horses just weren’t there to run exactly what Andersen would like to have done philosophically.
It also was abundantly clear last night that Ludwig couldn’t figure out a way to get his offense working in the face of what Ohio State was throwing at them. Good defenses force you to change what you are doing on offense, but Ludwig continued to try and jam a square peg in to a round hole. Joel Stave throwing the ball 43 times and completing just 17 is all you need to know about last night.
Which brings us to the final point.
…Hire OC That Can Execute said Offense
Andersen needs to sort things out this offseason and commit to one style of offense. You can’t be UW and dabble in spread concepts while also going pro-style smash mouth football the other 90 percent of the time. The players simply aren’t there…either you’re all in on one style or the other.
I get the difficult balance between honoring what has worked here at Wisconsin in the past and marrying your wanted philosophy to that. But, UW fans will embrace an offense that works — whether it be more spread based and still running or sticking with the pro-style offense that got the Badgers this far.
You can be smash mouth and still be spread though, just look at Ohio State’s offensive style — they punched the Badger defense in the mouth repeatedly last night from a spread look.
Reality is, if the Badgers want to play offense the way Gary Andersen sees it, Andy Ludwig is not the offensive coordinator for that. He looked more and more lost in the play calling as Saturday night went on, and had little in the way of answers for what was happening on the field.
Sometimes you just get beat by a better team, and others you get beat because you keep banging your head against the wall. There was little imagination from this offense all season long, and last night called for exactly that.
If Wisconsin wants to stick with its full pro-style offense than Ludwig can be someone you ride with, but if not Andersen needs to make the difficult choice and find an OC that will do what Andersen envisions for this offense.
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While the answers to what happened last night probably will never come, the Badgers can use these six things (and more) to become the team they want to be in the future. The question is, will these changes come quick enough to get the Badgers to the elite level in a year or two?
I’m not so sure after last nights complete meltdown on Twitter that fans have the patience to allow Andersen the time to get his style and his players in positions to affect games in a major way.
Looking at the recommendations, some are easy choices that can be made heading in to next season while others will take time to develop.
Wisconsin just can’t afford any more embarrassment on the way to transitioning in Andersen’s true mold.
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