Wisky Takeaways

[Birgs]

Our standout RB suffers a gruesome injury 3 minutes in.

Wisconsin's D is maybe the best in the country.

Our QB is aggressive: maybe too much throwing into quadruple coverages.

I love our TE's - but I have a bias considering the position.

Our DB's are very mobile and I would like to see more sneaky corner blitzes.

Overall, I can't believe I am saying this: despite the score, I feel better about this team coming out than going in.

The perpetual punting was frustrating, but I do forgive it slightly, as it seems the staff was looking to get some big-time experience, although our special teams suck... which is kind of a conundrum considering I also wanted to echo Spack's point of our increased depth (usually something that translates into good special teams)

Just venting...

 

[Redbird222]

Overall, I can't believe I am saying this: despite the score, I feel better about this team coming out than going in.

I agree with this statement. The Birds competed well especially in the first half. They showed the ability to move the ball although they never finished a drive. The passing game is noticeably improved from the past few years ... not just the QB but the routes and receiving coor I think the best weapon may be Taula but some of the receivers made good adjustments on the passes. They may not be amazing but they seem very capable.

Concerns

1. Injury to Mueller. I know we traditionally have had depth at RB but I just feel he is the best of the bunch
2. Out FG and Kickoff teams will be hurting. I also don't understand not taking an attempt at a 47/48 yard FG. There was a slight wind at their back at the time. Almost all of Takerian's FG attempts in warm-ups were 40 and closer, but he seemed like he might be capable of hitting that distance.
3. We got to avoid the big plays
4. I liked Annexstad but in games against NDSU and SDSU he will have to take care of the ball. I thought he was poised in the pocket and definte upgrade.
5. Our pass defense lost receivers at times on crossing routes. I am sure Wisconsin having a big offensive line and affording the QB time contributed, but it looks like an opportunity to improve.

Overall though I would say I was encouraged by the game. Plenty to work on but plenty to build on as well.

 

[fourthandshort]

move from predictions thread ...

Horrible break with Mueller injury ... feel bad for him and team, he will be missed for sure.

But overall I was encouraged. We looked very respectable for most part (2+ qtrs or so), other than their RB making us look like we weren't in their league. But Annextstad has a good pocket presence and I think this will bode well in MVFC play for us. He reminds me of Kolbe 2016 passing wise, but with much much better pocket sense - he doesn't panic. There was couple times he needed to have reacted sooner .. but I liked what I saw last night .. made some tough throws while taking some big time hits. Now just need some receivers to emerge. That and we will clearly need to be a RB by committee with Mueller out for season presumably.This offense could be a lot like 2016, but much more consistent because of Annexstad's pocket presence. Too early to be real confident ... but this could work .. damn, it would have been good to see Annexstad passing with option to handoff to Mueller. But I think weve got the horses to do this we'll need RBs 1a and 1b to step up now.

Defensively, we did pretty well considering we were playing a top 10 football program .. strong run game, and while their pass game is considered marginal, their QB is supposed to be a potent one. But we didn't look outmatched completely.

The punt from the 30 on 4th and 20 was just stupid .. and not encouraging for our kicking game ... was there much head wind ???

Side note .. theyre kicker looks like a friggin Tight End !!! And has a big leg.

All in all, solid showing for our Redbirds .. if not for Mueller injury, I would be saying we are a 7-4 for sure, maybe 8-3. Now we see how RB's step up.

 

[MadBird]

Agree with most of the comments in the first posts.

All thinking must be filtered by Wisconsin's nationally superior defense, and especially Braelon Allen's superior talent - he's an effin load!

Many of the stats are very competitive, if not all equal - time of possession, first downs, passing yardage, sacks. We competed.

Fantasy land, but take away the two 100 yard plays, give us at least two field goals (if Zach hadn't been intercepted, and the 30 yard punt) we should have tried and might have made, and you're down to 24-6 and altho that's almost 3 TD's away, much more respectable than a shutout.

Annexstad is solid. Tried to force the one into a space he shouldn't have, but he hit the dime several times. Would love to see him play both years with us. He'll get better. Comment from 4th and short is right on - receivers need to step up!

Speaking of which, couple of the Badger fans around me really liked Taula and said he was our best player on O, which is hard to disagree with. Not sure how many targets, but he only caught 2.

Zeke played like the senior leader he is - he stood up to the Badger blockers pretty well and tackled the tough RB's pretty well too. I mean, Allen had 148 yards on 14 carries, gaudy stat, but 96 came on one run, so 13 carries for 52 not so imposing. Good, but not gaudy.

They had 4 completions to the TE's and I think all came on the same damn route, left TE slides across the line and comes open on the right side, and is WIDE OPEN EVERY TIME 3-5 yards downfield!! Gotta fix that. Some MVFC teams, all, will spot that.

So yes, assuming we can get some rhythm next week and then take EIU seriously and deal with them, we'll be pointed in the right direction. SIU getting their pants taken down gives some encouragement for the conference start.

 

[Phantom]

Many great points above.

I thought we played hard and weren't intimidated. Started taking it right to them. The injury to Mueller was awful. Glad they didnt show the replay...on the live viewing you could tell it was one of those things you thought you saw but hoped you didn't.

Overall, it's a L of course but the score really wasn't indicative of our effort. The game was actually about 3 big plays away from being 17-7.

Oh well, file it and move on to next week.

 

[Birgs]

I agree with this statement. The Birds competed well especially in the first half. They showed the ability to move the ball although they never finished a drive. The passing game is noticeably improved from the past few years ... not just the QB but the routes and receiving coor I think the best weapon may be Taula but some of the receivers made good adjustments on the passes. They may not be amazing but they seem very capable.

Concerns

1. Injury to Mueller. I know we traditionally have had depth at RB but I just feel he is the best of the bunch
2. Out FG and Kickoff teams will be hurting. I also don't understand not taking an attempt at a 47/48 yard FG. There was a slight wind at their back at the time. Almost all of Takerian's FG attempts in warm-ups were 40 and closer, but he seemed like he might be capable of hitting that distance.
3. We got to avoid the big plays
4. I liked Annexstad but in games against NDSU and SDSU he will have to take care of the ball. I thought he was poised in the pocket and definte upgrade.
5. Our pass defense lost receivers at times on crossing routes. I am sure Wisconsin having a big offensive line and affording the QB time contributed, but it looks like an opportunity to improve.

Overall though I would say I was encouraged by the game. Plenty to work on but plenty to build on as well.

I agree whole-heartedly with your #3 & #4 bullets. He threw into quadruple coverage "trying to do to much" on the two big plays. NDSU and seeing what SDSU did in HawkTown yesterday will eat that alive.

 

[Dmills]

In my opinion, we would have a solid shot at 8-3 without the Mueller injury. Without Mueller, we are still in position for 6-5 maybe even 7-4 if we can make adjustments on offense, which I think we can. I say this because UNI had an underwhelming performance last night, although Air Force is supposed to be decent this year. Also, SIU got blown out by UIW (good FCS team).

Will be interesting to see if anyone else steps up such as Sean Allen, Rashad Lampkin or even Lavarion Logan (though I still think he will redshirt). If Wright stays healthy, I think we will still have a running game that is top half of the conference, he has a ton of potential.

Last year, we ran all over Butler, I expect Wright, Brown, and White to have a field day against Valpo. Valpo beat Trinity Christian on a last minute field goal last night...

I was very encouraged by the passing game. I feel great about our mid-range passing game (15-35 yards or so). The pick 6 was a really costly and bad decision, but I still have a lot of confidence in Zack. Last year we had 57 yards of TOTAL offense against WMU and 4 first downs. Last night we had 243 yards of total offense and 14 first downs.

The wide open targets Wisconsin kept finding in the passing game was very frustrating, but I am hopeful we will work those out. The talent should be there in the secondary to have a great pass coverage if they can work out the breakdowns and blown coverages.

Side note: it sounds Jack Dwyers injury may be serious as well. It didn't look good when he went down, but he was putting weight on it while using crutches for support while on the sidelines. Not a huge loss in scale, but tough for him as he was playing special teams as a RS freshman.

 

[Dmills]

Is it a possibility that Waring could redshirt this season and then have 3 more? If that's a possibility, it would seem like an attractive option to me. Rittenhouse has already redshirted a year. Waring's "Redshirt" year was the year affected by COVID. That would mean when Annexstad graduates, he would have 2 seasons where he would be in position to compete for a starting spot.

 

[Birgs]

Just 'cause I'm a dork and I was grading papers and my girlfriend in with her nephews in Indiana, I re-watched portions of the game on the FX1 replay this morning and noticed after, what will be known as "THE INJURY" the rest of the year, a lot more bunch split formations and a little more pre-snap motion than prior seasons.

Annexstad appears to be the same plan as Brady Davis, but looked better in the pocket..almost too good and tried too much.

Oh too have the flexibility of Tre, but we don't, so I enjoyed Petersen's creativity, especially with our main weapon down.
I also love Niekamp in the booth and Kye running the troops. I think w're in decent, not great, but optimistic shape.

 

[jbird]

I didn't see Mueller's injury in real time; the fact that on the broadcast they subsequently declined to show the injury suggests that it was, in fact, catastrophic. However, has their been an announcement from the program about the diagnosis/ extent of the injury and the prospect of him returning..........ever?

 

[Virginia Redbird]

I didn't see Mueller's injury in real time; the fact that on the broadcast they subsequently declined to show the injury suggests that it was, in fact, catastrophic. However, has their been an announcement from the program about the diagnosis/ extent of the injury and the prospect of him returning..........ever?

I watched a YouTube video of the injury to Mueller this morning. The video stated that he had fractured and dislocated his ankle. It did not look good on the video. I don't know if that is an accurate diagnosis or not but if it is, Mueller's season is finished.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

The injury to Mueller was of course terrible for the young man. It is just one of those things that happen in the game. The replay I saw showed a Wisconsin defender falling right on the back of the ankle as Mueller was pushing forward. It just happens but almost always that leads to serious injury. Mueller is a huge loss to the team. The rest of the RBs will have to step up. It was really a game of mistakes and big plays. ISU made the mistakes and Wisconsin capitalized and made the big plays. When FCS meets FBS usually the FCS team has to be mistake-free to win. Outside of the injury to Mueller, I can't say I am terribly disappointed. Most of us did not expect a win in Madison. The Redbirds get a decent payday and move on to the rest of the schedule.

 

[LakeGenevaBadger]

ISU offense looked really good in the 1st Qtr (I think the Birds held a 78-6 advantage at that point?). We met a bunch of really friendly, knowledgeable Redbird fans before the game. Enjoyed having the ISU band in attendance, especially during the 5th Qtr, when they joined the UW band on the field. So incredibly sorry to see the injury to Cole Mueller, praying he'll be alright. Best of luck the rest of the season, Redbirds.

 

[Total Red]

ISU offense looked really good in the 1st Qtr (I think the Birds held a 78-6 advantage at that point?). We met a bunch of really friendly, knowledgeable Redbird fans before the game. Enjoyed having the ISU band in attendance, especially during the 5th Qtr, when they joined the UW band on the field. So incredibly sorry to see the injury to Cole Mueller, praying he'll be alright. Best of luck the rest of the season, Redbirds.

Great hosts, great atmosphere. Definitely something a college football fan should experience at least once.

 

[DaveBird10]

My Thoughts

- When re-watching the game on the 1st interception in the end zone, Annexstad said after the game he didn't see the safety bite down. I said right after he threw it, Zach will go back and regret that pass bc JK Carter was wide open in the back of the end zone. There was nobody within 5-10 yards of him.
- With regards to the not kicking the 47 yard field goal, I understand both sides, but what I will tell you is, is that the kicker Jasek a transfer from Nebraska was short on a 46yarder at Hancock during the spring game. Not sure he has the leg for that kick.

 

[MadBird]

Great hosts, great atmosphere. Definitely something a college football fan should experience at least once.

A few years ago there were many reports of hostile treatment of visiting fans, rowdy drunks all over the place pre-game, etc. And I observed same several times, altho never truly a "visiting" fan at that time, wearing visiting colors. But this time, we didn't see or experience any of that, maybe depending on where you were, but I had several friendly encounters with Badger fans.

As we parked our car and got on the shuttle bus, a friendly Badger fan engaged me in conversation, asked about the team, wished us good luck, and then said "Welcome to Madison". I hesitated, thinking maybe no need to tell the truth, then said, well, we've lived here for 30+ years. He laughed.

 

[MadBird]

A couple more thoughts, after reviewing the game "tape" today. Will probably repeat comments from others, not that I didn't read them, and maybe from my own earlier comments.

I'd have to say our D line held up pretty well overall. That is a big tough UW OL and Okolo, Lewan, Hickox especially hung tough thru most of the game. Pressured the QB some. Wasn't Okolo a grey-shirt, and then a redshirt?? He looked very strong out there. Hickox wasn't a force last year, but seemed to be in the thick of things Saturday.

Said it before, Zeke was the leader. Jordan looked very good I thought.

I thought we had some missed tackles that really hurt us - had hits on guys but couldn't wrap them up and they ended up getting good gains (including Allen's long TD). And some where we "over reacted" got out of position. Especially in the D backfield. Recognizing the competition was very good.

Overall, I thought our D backfield needs improvement, especially in coverage. Maybe it's the scheme, also new guys being worked in. But they had a fair number of receptions where we just weren't on them.

The stats don't bear it out, but I thought our run game wasn't all that bad. OL blocked pretty decent, again, considering who they were up against.

But the OL didn't pass protect that well, Zach was under pressure quite a bit.

Props to Coach Spack for getting in most of his Wisconsin players in 4th quarter, as far as I can tell most played at least a couple series.

Punting was okay - Takerian's average brought down by the number of "pooch" kicks, altho his longest was only 43 yds (he had kicks of 35, 40, 42 and 43, but also 17, 23, and 25). But if we can't even try a 45 yard FG when we really needed some points, not good.

Hard to believe you'd feel "good" about a 38-0 shutout, but all in all seems the boys held their own.

 

[TIMMY]

Finally got to rewatch the game. Two big plays early bust your balls

The Pick:: You've got a nice drive going. 3rd and 7 red zone play. Short field. They've got 5 in the box {run the skin of the pig!} when you come to the line because they KNOW you're going to throw. So they run man under Cover 2. Instead of checking to a run, duh, you throw it anyway. (A QB draw and he walks in.) The 5th year Safety sits on it because he is not a dim wit and knows the TE is the best you've got and 100 yards later instead of 7 or 3 zip good guys it's 7 zip the other way. A 14 or 10-point frickin swing. Killer. That kind of stuff frosts my ass.

The Run: 96-yard run. The weak safety lost leverage and got held (sort of) and the weak corner completely lost his leverage dipping inside and fell down. What a big play that should have been a 10-yard run. A little over-aggressive? I'll take that. Better than passive. But... Game Set Match.

Obviously, Wisconsin is a better team. They better be. But we're going to be alright. I like the way we stood up to them early and I'm sticking to 7-4.

 

[MadBird]

Finally got to rewatch the game. Two big plays early bust your balls

The Pick:: You've got a nice drive going. 3rd and 7 red zone play. Short field. They've got 5 in the box {run the skin of the pig!} when you come to the line because they KNOW you're going to throw. So they run man under Cover 2. Instead of checking to a run, duh, you throw it anyway. (A QB draw and he walks in.) The 5th year Safety sits on it because he is not a dim wit and knows the TE is the best you've got and 100 yards later instead of 7 or 3 zip good guys it's 7 zip the other way. A 14 or 10-point frickin swing. Killer. That kind of stuff frosts my ass.

The Run: 96-yard run. The weak safety lost leverage and got held (sort of) and the weak corner completely lost his leverage dipping inside and fell down. What a big play that should have been a 10-yard run. A little over-aggressive? I'll take that. Better than passive. But... Game Set Match.

Obviously, Wisconsin is a better team. They better be. But we're going to be alright. I like the way we stood up to them early and I'm sticking to 7-4.

Yes, plus the 74 yd pass, not a TD, which took them from their own 7 to our 19. 3 plays later, into some blown coverage (or a great pass play overloading the left side, or both), another TD. This was in the 3rd Q, so the party was pretty much over. But still . . . .

 

[Total Red]

Leading up to the opener there had been a lot of talk about improvement in the offense. We did see some good things, but I was hoping for some moments of greatness and a score. Four sacks are too many, even for an opponent like Wisconsin. It's not like Annexstad was holding the ball for very long. Each offensive tackle got beat by a speed move to the outside. Annexstad has a quick release, but you have to be able to feel the rush to know when to unleash the ball. I didn't really see that from him, and I don't know if he can improve on that this late in his career. I'll probably catch some flak for this, but I was disappointed in two of our best plays - the 26-yard reception by Wright and the 26-yard reception by Carr. Annexstad found Wright open on the sideline and it was one of his best throws of the day. It was an easy completion because Wright was wide open, but Annexstad didn't settle. He gunned a line drive pass to Wright and led him perfectly allowing Wright to maintain his forward momentum with open ground in front of him. After a couple of strides Wright encountered a Badger defender that moved in and took him down. As RB and a receiver Wright should live for that moment. If you get open in the secondary then you need to make the first man miss. With Carr it was a different story. He beat his man and he was open over the deep middle. Annexstad fired another beauty, and it looked like he led Carr perfectly, but Carr went to the ground untouched immediately after catching the ball. He did not appear to have to stretch very far to catch the ball. He only had a step on the defender but with his speed he could have taken it to the house if he had been able to maintain his footing.

Hey, I know I'm asking a lot of the O-line, the QB and the receivers. We did see some good things, but good wasn't good enough for even a single score. We needed a moment of greatness and we didn't get it. This offense can improve, and it will need to improve because good won't win the Valley either. If this team wants to finish 7-4 or better, it needs to flex some greatness.