First and foremost is special teams. Our punt and kickoff coverage units were some of the worst special teams. Thus far, I'm not impressed. All three of Washington State's TDs were a direct result of piss-poor plays on special teams.
We blocked a punt early on, only to have the kicker get the ball right back and gain 20 yards, giving his team the first down and allowing them to continue the drive and score a TD.
Luke Swann just plain dropped a punt return, giving them the ball back at midfield.
Ken DeBauche tried to pooch a punt, failed pretty miserably and had it go about 10 yards and bounce right back at him. He then scooped it forward, which is a 15 yard penalty. We'd have been better off going for it on 4th down and losing a few yards.
Other than that, despite taking a little time to really find the running game, the rest of the team was pretty impressive. The first half seems like a bit of a wash because Washington State was able to hang in and it seems like we didn't do what we were supposed to do. But we did hang 21 points in the first half.
Tyler Donovan was extremely impressive. I'm certain I'm not the only one who was apprehensive about the QB situation, and he's still untried against any "real" competition, but Donovan had great stats. He missed like 2 passes the entire first half. He showed the ability to scramble and wait for an open receiver. He had a few keepers where he gained 5 yards or so. He was moblie, which is not something Wisconsin QBs are known for.
I'm off to the Brewer game in 15 minutes, so any further discussion will have to wait. In the meantime, some pictures from Saturday.
I love this tradition. After halftime various sections of the marching band go around the stadium and play to each of the sections.
One of Luke Swann's stellar catches
Tyler Donovan dropping back
Kickoff
As the team entered the field. I really, really, really hate the all red unis.
The Blackhawk helicopters that did a flyover
A few minutes before gametime
Walking up Regent to Camp Randall
3 comments:
It's not just the "untried"-ness of Donovan that gets me, but also how little information defensive coordinators have on him. If he's still producing the same way 5 games into the season, then I will stop holding my breath. A little game film makes a huge difference (just look at Rex Grossman).
hopefully they will be a nice 3-0 when Iowa comes to town. I hate Iowa.
The Badgers scored 28 points in the first half, not 21.
Also, one of Wazzu's scoring drives did not immediately follow a punting or special teams miscue. They had an 80 yard touchdown drive in the first half.
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