Changing my tune about Wisconsin

[Targus]

A few items noted about Wisconsin...

I actually think this is the better matchup for Oregon now. Before, I wanted nothing to do with Wisky.

Badgers defensive is not that quick and MSU's front and LB's looked better. Oregon should be able to put a lot of points on the board. This team reminds me, in part, of Stanford with the power I. We can play that game and duplicate that in practice to prep the defense. From OT to OT, they go 320, 330, 320, 315 and 330. They will get yards on the ground...but, they are not overly quick or athletic. Despite the size of the OL and Wilson's athleticism, they've given up considerably more sacks than MSU. I'm hopeful with some lockdown coverage and stunts, we'll get to Wilson and disrupt the offensive flow.

I'm not so sure Badger's are able to duplicate the speed, trip/quad option and spread of Oregon in practice to prep the D.

Cousin's is more accurate, is the leading Big Ten QB in yards and has more athletic WR's. Badgers top WR's (Toon/Abbredis) avg less than 70 ypg. I believe our corners are athletic enough to go man and we'll be able to devote a defender to both Ball and Wilson.

It's going to be a total battle and both teams are going to put points on the board. I feel this will come down to Oregon having the better defense and making more stops, and Oregon's offense is more explosive.

Badger's have 78 TD's on the year and allowed 26 - to Oregon's 75/35. They did not play a top 5 team (Oregon played 2) and their OOC schedule had UNLV, Oregon St, N. Ill, and S. Dak. - yawn.

They have not played a team with speed like Oregon. No where near.

Go Ducks!! This won't be easy but we can do this.

 

[Nate Dogg]

A BCS win will show that they are on the right track.

A performance plan on how they played against USC, WSU and Washington will cause them to falter either at the beginning at a slow start and fall short, or their offensive kicks in the second half.

It doesn't matter on Wisconsin's stats, its how the Ducks perform consistently.

 

[Targus]

Stats, matchups, mismatches, areas to focus on, areas to exploit, etc absolutlely matter. Its called game-specific prep. Oregon was more prepared for Luck and Stanford then they were for Barkley and USC.

Three Conference Championships. We're on the right track.

 

[STOMP]

It doesn't matter on Wisconsin's stats, its how the Ducks perform consistently.

watching the game last night I was comforted watching both teams marching the ball up and down the field. As Targus pointed out, Wisky looked slow on D which means opportunities will abound for Oregon. So as you pointed out, it's a matter of them executing. If Oregon is clicking on offense and they're trading TDs early on, their Offensive big boys are going to get awfully tired going against Oregon's rotating DTs by the 2nd half. I'll take the Ducks chances against most anyone in a shootout

STOMP

 

[tlongII]

It should be a good game. This is probably the best matchup in the BCS bowls. I think the team with less turnovers will win.

 

[STOMP]

the team with less turnovers will win.

true of most games

STOMP

 

[Targus]

I feel strongly that the team who scores the most points will have the best chance to win.

 

[Nate Dogg]

Some press talked about the Ducks speed last year against Auburn. However the Ducks got overmatched due to the offensive linemen size of Auburn and their quickness. There will be more comparison stats between theses two teams (Ducks vs Badgers) in the next few weeks.

2011 FBS rankings.
Ducks give up 23.6 pts per game.
Badgers give up 17 pts per game.

Between the two QB's

Ducks: D.Thomas 194/316 attempts 2493 yards, 30 TD's.
Badgers: R.Wilson 206/284 attempts 2879 yards, 31 TD's.

Passing yards are very close for both teams per game.

 

[STOMP]

On offense for 2011 Wisconsin has averaged 6.7 yards per play, so has Oregon. On defense for 2011 Wisconsin averages giving up 4.8 yards per play, as has Oregon.

Should be fun

STOMP

 

[Targus]

On offense for 2011 Wisconsin has averaged 6.7 yards per play, so has Oregon. On defense for 2011 Wisconsin averages giving up 4.8 yards per play, as has Oregon.

Should be fun

STOMP

Those are amazing stats. I'd argue Oregon has played considerably better teams to arrive at those stats. Did you see Wisky's OOC schedule? Yikes!

 

[tlongII]

Those are amazing stats. I'd argue Oregon has played considerably better teams to arrive at those stats. Did you see Wisky's OOC schedule? Yikes!

I would argue that the Big-10 is better top to bottom than the Pac-12 this year.

 

[Targus]

It's difficult to argue with the fact that Oregon has played three of the top five teams (AP) in the nation. Wisky failed to play any top 5 teams and their OOC is atrociously silly.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

This game worries me a bit... As stated Wisconsin's O line is huge, bigger than the Green Bay Packers in fact! They have a super sized version of D Thomas in Wilson as a QB that's not afraid to take off when his check offs are exposed and a punishing RB. They have tall recievers that he can get the long ball to and our secondary is undersized as we've all year, and vunlerable.

Our offense is going to have to strike fast and get a cushion because the Badgers will want to play smash mouth, ball control for 4 quarter exhausting our D if they can.

D Thomas can not come out against these guys and play a sluggish 1st half and hope to turn on the jets in the 4th... The Ducks need to be surgical and "CRISP" early! If they play focused Duck ball it's over by the 3rd.... if not, expect this to be another game where a miracle play has to materialize to save the quack. I for one just want us to walk out there and play a FOCUSED game and make a Rose Bowl Satement!

That said, I think the key to the Ducks is FOCUS this year. The UCLA game should be a concern, cause the Quack was asleep out there in the second half. Chip needs to get them on the same page in a hurry. USC "1st half" and OSU we looked bored and just expecting to win. That will get you beat!

IF we are focused we win by 17 and it's a great day!

 

[Targus]

One thing that jumped out at me is that Wisconsin only played 34 players against MSU. Considering your key starters account for 22 - add in a few kickers and special teams guys and it appears Wisconsin is not deep at all. Not at all. MSU played 54 and Oregon typically plays 50+.

This is a Wis team with a good core group of guys, but no way their defense (or even their offense) can hold up against all the bodies we are able to rotate.

 

[Ed O]

I would argue that the Big-10 is better top to bottom than the Pac-12 this year.

I think you're right, but the top of the Pac-12 is better.

In fact, I think I'd rank the teams this way, from 1-24 (in tiers):

Top Tier (4): Oregon, USC, Stanford, Michigan
Second Tier (5): Wisconsin, tOSU, PSU, Nebraska, MSU
Third Tier (8): Washington, California, UCLA, ASU, Utah, Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue
Fourth Tier (7): Colorado, Arizona, OSU, WSU, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana

I think that Michigan is the best Big-10 team, but isn't as good as the Pac-12's big three...

Ed O.

 

[tlongII]

I think you're right, but the top of the Pac-12 is better.

In fact, I think I'd rank the teams this way, from 1-24 (in tiers):

Top Tier (4): Oregon, USC, Stanford, Michigan
Second Tier (5): Wisconsin, tOSU, PSU, Nebraska, MSU
Third Tier (8): Washington, California, UCLA, ASU, Utah, Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue
Fourth Tier (7): Colorado, Arizona, OSU, WSU, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana

I think that Michigan is the best Big-10 team, but isn't as good as the Pac-12's big three...

Ed O.

I disagree. I think the top of the Pac is better than the Big-10 top, but I think Wisky and MSU are both better than Michigan.

 

[Nate Dogg]

From O-live.

But Wisconsin's Russell Wilson is arguably not the most dangerous player in the Badgers' backfield. He's joined by the equally dangerous running back, Montee Ball, a Heisman Trophy finalist. No. 6 Wisconsin (11-2) is pretty dominant on defense, as well, ranking eighth in the nation in fewest yards allowed (293 per game). It's the best all-around team statistically UO has faced since losing 40-27 to No. 1 LSU in the season opener.

More..

UO defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti was asked following the Ducks' 49-31 win over UCLA in the Pacific-12 Conference Championship what he thought of Wisconsin's offense. His immediate impressions involved Ball and Wilson.

"I know Wisconsin runs the ball up and down the field like there's no tomorrow and I know they've got a quarterback that's really, really good," he said.

Wisconsin's Wilson has completed 72.5 percent of his passes for 2,879 yards and 31 touchdowns with only three interceptions while rushing for 320 yards and five touchdowns.

In contrast Ducks Darron Thomas has completed 61.5 percent of his passes for his 2,493 yards and 30 touchdowns with six interceptions while rushing for 205 yards and three touchdowns.

More

Oregon ranks 46th in rushing defense, allowing 137.5 yards per game, but opponents averaged just 3.6 yards per carry. Safe to say, the Ducks this season have yet to face a force like the Badgers' running game.

Oregon coach Chip Kelly said Sunday the key would be to take away one of their strengths.

"A team that's multidimensional like Wisconsin really presents the ultimate problems on the defensive side of the ball," Kelly said.

Oregon must find a way to get its own offense going in a big bowl game. The Ducks, who averaged 47 points last year and 36.1 the year before, have averaged just 18 points in two BCS bowl games, losing 26-17 to Ohio State and 22-19 to Auburn.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/12/rose_bowl_wisconsin_badgers_pr.html

 

[STOMP]

The Ducks have played two ground and pound running teams this year, LSU & Stanford. For the season they averaged 5.0 and 5.3 yards per rush respectively but against Oregon those numbers shrank to 3.6 & 3.7 ypr.

Wisconsin has averaged 5.5 ypr this year.

STOMP

 

[STOMP]

Hey Nate Dogg, is there some reason you aren't relaying offensive rushing stats?

STOMP

 

[Wheels]

137 YPG and 3.6 YPC against a Defense that is on the field as much as Oregon!? Wow Thats better than I thought we were. Thanks for that Nate Dogg it actually makes me feel better about our D

 

[Targus]

Wisconsin Opponents:

UNLV #117 in Total Offense and #106 in Total Defense
ORST #77 in Total Offense and #83 in Total Defense
NILL #10 in Total Offense (LOL), and #87 in Total Defense
S. DAK UNRANKED in FBS
NEB #66 in Total Offense and #36 in Total Defense
IND #85 in Total Offense and #109 in Total Defense
MSU #60 in Total Offense and #5 in Total Defense
tOSU # 109 in Total Offense and #24 in Total Defense
PURD #79 in Total Offense and #65 in Total Defense
MINN #109 in Total Offense and #77 in Total Defense
ILL #86 in Total Offense and #7 in Total Defense
PSU #94 in Total Offense and #10 in Total Defense
MSU2 #60 in Total Offense and #5 in Total Defense

OPP RANK AVG., (Throwing out FBS): #72 in Total Offense and #51 in Total Defense.

ORE #6 in Total Offense and #60 in Total Defense


Oregon Opponents

LSU #75 in Total Offense and #2 in Total Defense
NEV #5 in Total Offense and #52 in Total Defense
MO. St. Unranked in FBS
ARIZ #15 in Total Offense and #110 in Total Defense
CAL #37 in Total Offense and #26 in Total Defense
ASU #26 in Total Offense and #88 in Total Defense
CU #92 in Total Offense and #103 in Total Defense
WSU #36 in Total Offense and #81 in Total Defense
WASH #57 in Total Offense and #94 in Total Defense
STAN #11 in Total Offense and #25 in Total Defense
USC #22 in Total Offense and #54 in Total Defense
ORST #77 in Total Offense and #83 in Total Defense
UCLA #62 in Total Offense and #91 in Total Defense

UO's OPP. RANK AVG., (throwing out FBS): #43 in Total Offense and #53 in Total Defense

 

[Nate Dogg]

Well i hope the Ducks bring it and don't fall short in scoring like in the past bowls from their stats. They need to prove it this year in a BCS bowl.

 

[Targus]

Well i hope the Ducks bring it and don't fall short in scoring like in the past bowls from their stats. They need to prove it this year in a BCS bowl.

Thanks. Nice to know we have a few fans from Beav Nation.

I have no argument that we were outmatched by tOSU in the Rose Bowl. But last year, vs Auburn, we had more than 100 total yards and lost by 3 on the last play of the game. It was a very competitive game for the #1 spot in the nation.

Prior to that, we beat a very talented UCF team and a well rounded Okie St team in bowl games.

I think we're going to hold our own vs Wiskey and make the State of Oregon very proud!