Gardner completely shut down half the field and the best WR on the other team. Teams didn't even throw it his way. When that happens, it allows your defense to dedicate itself to helping lock the other side down. To put it in perspective how little teams threw his way. He gave up 113 yards receiving FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR. There is a reason why one guy was drafted in the top 5 and the other CB was drafted in the 4th round. So yes -- Bryant won the Thorpe, but if you remove Gardner from Cincy -- they have a completely different defense and I would wager Bryant isn't winning anything, as he now has less help over the top, has to cover the top threat on the other team, etc.
I'm not downplaying Gardner's impact and how elite he was, but again, it's not like Bryant was crap and won the award for being crap. Again, also, the NFL talent Fickell developed in a short time there was apparent. He got to Cincy in 2017, and for the next for the next 3 years they had 1 player drafted in each draft. Then in 2021, a class almost entirely developed by Fickell, they had 4 drafted. In 2022, there were 9 that got drafted. There were then 3 more drafted this year. That's 16 kids over 3 years, with 6 of them being drafted in the early rounds. You can't just act like he got lucky with 1 player and that's all he did.
Your last comment is exactly why Wisconsin will be completely different. Let him recruit his guys in. That means going away from what made Wisconsin what it was. A grind it out team that ate up the play clock and wore defenses down, while their defense got to rest of the sideline.
Are you going to completely gloss over the part about UNC running the ball much more than they passed it and producing 3 different 1,000+ yard rushers in 4 years? That's sort of a big deal in this conversation. UNC had more seasons under Longo where they weren't even top 50 in the nation in pass attempts than they did being even top 30, so I wouldn't expect him to suddenly change that. If anything, he's going to bring experience developing coherent passing attacks that also focus a lot on the run. On average in his 4 years, UNC was 55th in the nation in time of possession, so it's nothing outlandish. Again, I strongly disagree that he runs a traditional "air raid" offense.
Yeah his offense never worked in the Big Ten. That 2010 season was the year they finished 25th in the nation in scoring and played 13 games. Over half of their points all season came in those 4 games you mentioned.
I don't think Wisconsin's D will change that much. Yes, PPGA may go up but that will be due to # of possessions, as you say. I don't think that Mordecai is the Second coming of Russell Wison, but he is a huge upgrade to Mertz. Transfers into the WR room is a huge improvement. Will we score 40 per game? No but mid 30s is not out of the question.
Without a doubt -- Michigan was TERRIBLE under Rich Rod. If I made it sound like Rich Rod was great for us -- That definitely isn't what I was trying to say. We were TERRIBLE and he brought in all the guys to fit his offense, which mean smaller skill position guys, smaller OL, smaller defensive linemen. He failed miserably and that set Michigan back for years and is one of the reasons, why for a decade, we struggled.
I said the same thing with Michigan. It will change, especially if you are using a hurry up on huddle type of offense, as those defensive players Wisconsin signed in the past will look elsewhere. Defensive players want little to do with teams using hurry up no huddle offenses, as it looks great on the scoreboard for the offense, but it breaks a defense down.
The downfall is -- the defense was on the field all game long. That is the issue with the hurry up no huddle spread.
Again, are you going to keep ignoring the fact that UNC ran much more often than they threw under Longo? Or that they were actually on average right around the middle of the FBS, if not in the top half of teams in terms of TOP?
I think recruiting depends on the first 2 years. If Wisky can get back to 9, 10, or heaven forbid, 11 wins, the recruits will be there. But, as always, QB is a weakness going forward. Fix that and we'll be OK. Coach Dad bet his career on Mertz and lost. I am an optimistic fan but enough of a realist to understand we are starting behind but so far I think Fickell is doing a helluva job.
I could be wrong, but to me, the last place you want to implement any type of spread, high tempo offense is in an area of the country where you lack those type of athletes. So who knows? I guess we will see. If I thought really hard, I'm sure i've been wrong once a long time ago.
Don't hurt yourself.I could be wrong, but to me, the last place you want to implement any type of spread, high tempo offense is in an area of the country where you lack those type of athletes. So who knows? I guess we will see. If I thought really hard, I'm sure i've been wrong once a long time ago.
The toughest part for Wisconsin is going to be finding the skill position talent if they truly are going to open it up and go 4 or 5 wide. The elite skill position talent is usually in the South, Southwest, West. You have a handful in our recruiting footprint, but then you have to try and take those kids from schools like Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, which will be so hard to do.
I think the days of the 25 carry running back is over. Int fact, it would not surprise me if Chaz Mellusi becomes the lead RB.The toughest part for Wisconsin is going to be finding the skill position talent if they truly are going to open it up and go 4 or 5 wide. The elite skill position talent is usually in the South, Southwest, West. You have a handful in our recruiting footprint, but then you have to try and take those kids from schools like Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, which will be so hard to do.
Wisconsin had the right idea recruiting to their strengths, Will be interesting to see what the offense looks like next year. I shouldn't pass judgement until I see what it is they settle on running. I do hope for Wisconsin fans sake -- it looks nothing like the hurry up spread that Rich Rod put in at UM, as you won't recognize your team.