2006 Statistics

The amount of experience on this side of the ball is ready to pick up right where they left off, but a new field general needing honing often forces teams to downshift. Fortunately, senior QB Tyler Donovan brings an extra running dimension Stucco never had to open up defenses. The Hartland-native showed his comprehensive ability in guiding the Badgers to a huge win late in the season at Iowa, alleviating fears that UW’s latest signal caller could force the offense to take steps back as he catches up to where they already are. Junior backup Allan Evridge offers more size and should see reps along with other reserves as coaches think about 2008. Freshman All-American P.J. Hill continues the Badger tradition of big, fast bruisers who can take a corner as well as they move the pile. Backup Lance Smith-Williams struggled as a true frosh, so we expect to see this year’s No.4 RB recruit John Clay in an effort to keep legs fresh and yard amassing. Fullback Bill Rentmeester is that unsung devotee who makes it all work without needing dap. As the big running game takes over and sucks extra defenders into the box, Donovan will assuredly find open targets like seniors Luke Swan and 6’4 Paul Hubbard. Also guaranteeing open receivers in isolation is their top snarler, junior all-Big Ten TE Travis Beckum. Senior backup Andy Crooks was fourth in receptions, telegraphing UW’s use of two- and three-TE sets that they dare you to stop. You can see the amount of effort put into utilizing extra bigmen, and we haven’t even gotten to their four returning starters on the line. Senior Marcus Coleman is huge for a center, yet that doesn’t limit his mobility of his all-conference status. Flanked by three huge juniors who all know each other’s tendencies well, the only questions remaining up front pertain to the open left tackle slot. Two freshmen are set to compete, but Gabe Carimi is going to have to hope for a miracle to fend off this year’s top tackle recruit in Josh Oglesby. Along with his quicker feet as an upgrade, Donovan only needs to keep himself (and the team) cool and deliver the ball consistently to get this experienced offense to places where Stucco couldn’t. Still, how long that takes will spell how much success Wisconsin has this season.

The good new is that the front returns almost the exact same, so run stopping efforts can improve after finishing a respectable 34th. The bad news is that their stellar secondary loses both starting safeties, which means we get to see if secondary coach Kerry Cooks can repeat their No.1 pass efficiency ranking given newly-promoted reserves. All-Big Ten end Matt Shaughnessy will have just as productive of a junior year with either quick, strong senior backup Jamal Cooper or athletic hulking classmate Kurt Ware finally getting the start. Hayden and Chapman in the middle are big enough to clog and fast enough to invade opponent’s backfields regularly. The only turnover amongst the linebackers is a new starter in the middle, and Elijah Hodge was good enough there as a RS frosh that few will miss Zalewski. Juniors Casillas and Levy are surprisingly tough against the run for their size as they rule their outside areas. Both react well to play-action as they shut down the underneath passing lanes. Seeing how there will be little drop off in the front seven’s performance, expect big improvements in sack totals and run stopping. But there is nowhere to go but down for the secondary, and how far the secondary sinks will tell most (along with the new QB) whether Wisconsin can again crack the top 10. Clampdown corners Allan Langford and Jack Ikegwuonu can duplicate their all-conference levels of play, but the underclassmen reserves taking over the safety spots don’t have enough experience to guarantee any results like the Badgers just had. This side of the ball was what got Wisconsin so far in ’06, and with Ohio State and Michigan still seemingly ahead of them, UW will need another overachieving bunch to keep up with the conference “Jones’s”.