Pros and Cons: Northern Illinois vs. Wisconsin Week One

The Wisconsin Badgers opened up the 2009 season on Saturday, hosting Northern Illinois for a night game at Camp Randall Stadium.  The University of Wisconsin is known for its electric atmosphere on game day, and Saturday was no different.

After a season of disappointment by fans whom have grown accustom to winning, a fast start is what the Badgers would need.  Newly appointed starting quarterback, Scott Tolzien, didn't disappoint the 85,000 faithful.

Let's go over the "pros" and "cons" of Saturday night's game at Camp Randall.  First, let's start with the pros.

Fast start:  NIU won the coin-toss and received.  After a near four minute drive, the Huskies punted to David Gilreath.  Gilreath had a pedestrian six yard return from the Badgers 14 yard line, setting up the Badgers offense at the 20.

On the first play from scrimmage for the season, Scott Tolzien faked a hand-off to Zach Brown.  NIU's defense bit on the fake, and left Issac Anderson wide open for Tolzien's pass.  Eighty yards to pay-dirt, and the Badgers had a touchdown.  As if the Camp Randall crowd wasn't electric enough, this put it over the top.

Wide Receivers/Tight End Play:  After reading the final statistics on the game, one may think that Wisconsin joined the SEC during the off-season.  Issac Anderson finished with three catches for 100 yards, one run for 23 yards, and two touchdowns.  Nick Toon had a career high five catches for 72 yards.

Little-used Maurice Moore had one reception for 21 yards, and ever steady tight end Garrett Graham did all the right things, and finished the night with six catches for 82 yards.  Another bright spot for this group was run blocking.  Nick Toon had some really nice blocks, prolonging run lanes.  Garrett Graham left an impression on the NIU defensive line, as well.

Defensive Tenacity:  The Wisconsin defense was tenacious Saturday night.  Aside from a 57 yard run in the first quarter by Me'co Brown, the Badgers defense swarmed the football.  The Badgers defense tackled well as a team, and in numerous cases, tackled as a team. 

Chris Maragos, senior safety, led the way with nine tackles, including a sack.  However, that's not all Maragos brought to the field.  He had a game ending pass break-up, and quite an inspirational pre-game speech. 

Senior defensive end, O'Brien Schofield, had seven tackles, including a sack, and put constant pressure on NIU quarterback Chandler Harnish all night.  In the fourth quarter, Schofield greeted Harnish with a three-yard sack.  Harnish fumbled the ball on the sack, but the play was ruled dead before the fumble, and was non-reviewable.

Senior linebacker Jaevery McFadden was all over the field, with eight tackles, and displayed emotional leadership.  Freshman linebacker Mike Taylor punished the Huskies with seven tackles, a forced fumble, which he recovered.  Taylor played fast and mean, giving the Badgers a linebacker they haven't had since Mark Zalewski. 

Sophmore defensive end J.J. Watt was also phenomenal, with six tackles, including a sack.  Also, Watt was constantly in the offensive backfield, and broke up a pass.  Watt is 6'6" and 290 pounds, and played like his imposing stature.

Culmer St. Jean was also a thorn in the Huskies' side, with two QB hurries and a big stop on NIU's opening drive to force a punt.

Scott Tolzien:  There may be a few questions left to answer after Saturday's game, but overall, Scott Tolzien was confident and poised in the pocket.  That confidence could have built from his first pass as the Badgers starting quarterback going for an 80 yard touchdown.

Tolzien stood tall in the pocket, and stared down the defense, while making some big throws.  Tolzien proved tough, by getting hit on those big throws, but bouncing back up from Camp Randall's fieldturf and commanding the huddle.  He only made two mistakes in his starting debut, resulting in interceptions. 

The first coming on an NIU corner blitz, and Tolzien was hit as the released the ball, with it landing in NIU linebacker, Cory Hanson's hands.  The second came late in the game, after Curt Phillips ran an offensive drive.  The first play back in, Tolzien was throwing for Nick Toon. 

Again, Hanson got in the way, and snared his second pick of the game. Tolzien's final line was 15-20, 257 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.  However, he looked better in his limited experience, than Allan Evridge or Dustin Sherer in 2008. 

Energy:  The Badgers ran from the tunnel with a fire.  There was a swagger and enthusiasm that hasn't been seen since the beginning of last season.  This is a team with a chip on its shoulder, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Captains Chris Maragos and O'Brien Schofield gave an inspirational pep-talk in the end zone prior to the game, and the tempo was set.  For three quarters, it was obvious to tell that Wisconsin was the better team on the field.

Now, let's touch the cons on the game.

Special Teams:  Philip Welch was awful Saturday night.  Welch missed two field goals(55 yd and 41 yd) and shanked an extra point off the right up-right and through.  On the opening kickoff, he did boot the ball through the end zone for a touchback, which is rare to see from him. 

David Gilreath was pedestrian, at best, in most of his returns.  He had two punt returns for 10 yards, and a longest of six.  Gilreath returned three kick-offs for 62 yards, and a longest of 34. 

The silver lining of special teams was punter Brad Nortman.  Nortman had two punts for 66 yards, with both punts falling inside the NIU 20 yard line.  Nortman's punts really put the pressure on NIU's offense, by giving them a lot of field but them and the end zone. 

Penalties:  These were the killers tonight.  10 of NIU's 20 points were scored on drives extended by penalties.  NIU was facing a third and nine in the second quarter when Me'co Brown was tackled for a five yard loss.  However, McFadden was called for a facemask, now an automatic 15 yard penalty in college football.  The drive was extended and resulted in a field goal. 

The second drive extending penalty was on a third and 12 in the second quarter.  Aaron Henry was called for pass interference, which is an automatic 15 yard penalty in the college game.  The drive resulted in a punt, but it unnecessarily kept the defense on the field, at a time when the Badgers' offense was rolling. 

The last drive extending penalty happened late in the game.  NIU was facing a 4th and goal, when Harnish took a shot at the end zone to pull within 10 points of Wisconsin.  Antonio Fenelus was called for pass interference, giving NIU a first down, and the ball at the 2 yard line.  NIU scored a touchdown on the next play. 

Turnovers:  Scott Tolzien threw two interceptions.  One of those interceptions turned into an NIU touchdown, after a costly penalty in the red zone on fourth down prolonged the NIU drive.  The third turnover came on an onside kick after that touchdown. 

The ball struck the back of one of the Badgers' helmets and bounced right to the Huskies.  Chris Maragos later diffused the situation by swatting the ball away from the NIU wide receiver on fourth down and give the Wisconsin offense the ball.

Conditioning:  Wisconsin's defense spent a lot of unnecessary time on the field in the second and fourth quarters.  Fourteen of NIU's 20 points were scored in the fourth quarter.  Just like so many times in the 2008 season, Wisconsin played very strong for three quarters.  However, football is a four quarter game, and needs to be played as such. 

Running Backs:  At halftime, Bret Bielema spoke about playing "Wisconsin football."  The running game never seemed to get traction.  Zach Brown had 14 carries for 51 yards, for a 3.6 average yards per carry.  John Clay had 15 carries for 45 yards and two touchdowns. 

However, Clay averaged 2.8 yards per carry.  This isn't "Wisconsin football."  In the third quarter, Clay got most of his carries.  Also, both of his touchdowns were only a yard a piece.  Clay didn't show toughness while running the ball, though.  He was brought down by his shoestrings, and didn't seem to keeps in legs churning in the dog piles.

With his size, power and speed, this was a disappointing game, in my eyes, for John Clay.  At the end of the day, both running backs combined on 29 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns.  That is dismal for Wisconsin running backs. 

Coaching:  While I am a Bret Bielema supporter, I wasn't a fan of the final QB switches during the game.  I understand that Curt Phillips has atheticism that can't be ignored.  However, Tolzien was managing the game well, by being poised in the pocket, having good pocket presence, and being able to stand his ground and take a hit. 

The last time Tolzien went out, he didn't return the same.  His first play in the fourth quarter was an interception that allowed NIU back into the game.  Coach Bielema, stick with one guy.  Let Tolzien take the snaps and win you some football games.

So, there you have it.  That's my take on the pros and cons from the Week One Showdown between Northern Illinois and Wisconsin.  On Wisconsin!