Having an established run game is great, and it appears the Badgers have righted the ship after a blip against Western Illinois. Yet, things are far from perfect for the Badgers’ offense.
See, Wisconsin seems to have the exact same issue it had last season in the pass game. It has one very productive wide receiver, a tight end who can help stretch the field and exactly nothing from the rest of the wide receivers.
Leading the way on the edge has been former walk-on turned main target, Alex Erickson. The redshirt junior has 15 receptions for 165 yards and one touchdown in three games, a total few would have expected before the season started.
Tight end Sam Arneson is next in receptions with eight for 155 yards and one touchdown.
Sound familiar to anyone else?
It’s a near repeat of last season, when the Badgers had Jared Abbrederis lead the way with 49 receptions and was followed up by Jacob Pederson’s 27-reception total.
Doubt that anyone needs a reminder as to what happened last season when the Badgers’ pass game became one dimensional.
It made it easier for opposing defenses to shut down one half of the field and focus on attempting to stop the run.
However, the difference between the Badgers of 2013 and this season is a quarterback who is a dual threat. Many questioned why the Badgers would go away from Stave, who appeared to win the battle according to most media observers this fall.
It may have been the coaching staff having the foresight to realize it was going to have the same issues in the passing game as it had last season. Meaning Wisconsin needed an added dimension at quarterback to help ease the pressure on the run game.
The issues this season aren’t for a lack of trying, as the Badgers have taken calculated shots down the field that just haven’t produced results — yet.
Head coach Gary Andersen was asked about how he would see the Badgers’ offense from a defensive coordinator, and hinted that UW has put enough on film to make a team think twice about not respecting the deep ball.
“I wouldn’t sit up there if I’m getting ready to play the Badgers right now and I’m the defensive coordinator — I would not sit there and say they can’t throw the ball deep nor will they throw the ball deep,” said Andersen. “I would be thinking when are they going to start to throw the ball deep? That’s in my own little paranoid world that I would live in as a D coordinator.”
McEvoy hasn’t been perfect in the pass game, and that’s part of the numbers we’ve seen through three games. He has completed 58.8 percent of his passes for 445 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
However, he’s done his part with his legs (253 yards, two touchdowns) and has at least developed a solid relationship with two pass catchers to date.
Expanding off of those relationships will only help what is already a dynamic offense become nearly unstoppable. The missing part is the deep passing game, with the Badgers failing to complete a pass of over 37 yards.
“But our ability to take those deep shots, when you want to be who we are and run the ball, which has not changed, and your inability to be able to really throw it down there a few times a game and take the top off the coverage has to if you don’t have that, it definitely is going to cause your offense to not be as effective as it could be,” Andersen said at Monday’s press conference.
The question is, will the light bulb finally go off for any of the youngsters on the field as Wisconsin heads towards Big Ten play?
It’s hard to have faith that it will happen, when all the other receivers have combined for just three catches and 18 yards this season. None of the three newcomers have made an immediate impact, Rob Wheelwright hasn’t been healthy nor gotten on the same page with McEvoy and Reggie Love hasn’t been getting open enough to be productive.
With South Florida coming to Wisconsin, and the Bulls defense being pretty solid against the run, there’s little doubt that seeing more out of the rest of the Badgers wide receivers would be a welcome sight.
(Photo courtesy JSOnline.com)
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