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Game Thread (2004) Game Five: Wisconsin - 10/9/04 (L, 3-2/0-2)

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Having a free beer night wouldn't hurt either. And free 'D' batteries and rotten tomatoes would help too. Paybacks are a bitch!

I have a ton of respect for what their team and staff accomplishes on the field. I wouldn't mind open season on their liquored-up idiot fans. I say we set up a patrol at the border with a DUI checkpoint. Confiscate all of their Leinenkugel's and pass them out at our postgame celebration! I'd say about 95% of their contingency would end up spending a day in the drunk tank with the Tossed Salad Man.
 
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Update on the Badgers. It looks like they lost a few starters for this season, including QB Matt Schabert.

Wisconsin Roster Changes

Knee injury hobbles Jones
By Jonathan Linder BadgerNation.com
Date: Jul 13, 2004

Former Beloit Memorial standout among UW football players who will not return in 2004

MADISON, Wis.—Darius Jones’ Wisconsin football career has likely come to a close.

A starter at defensive end in 2003, Jones injured his knee in the Badgers’ final regular season game against Iowa. The injury held him out of the Music City Bowl a month later and kept him from taking part in Wisconsin’s spring practices in March and April.

The knee, apparently, has not healed enough for Jones, who was a high school All-American at Beloit (Wis.) Memorial, to return for what would be his senior season.

“Obviously he still has a knee problem,” Wisconsin defensive line coach John Palermo said. “And he has some other issues that he needed to get squared away. Darius decided it was best that he focus on school so he could graduate.”

Helene Jones, Darius’ mother, confirmed Tuesday in a telephone interview from the Jones’ home in Beloit that Darius would not participate in football this season due to the knee injury.

Reached by phone Monday evening, Darius declined comment.

Both Palermo and Helene Jones stated that Darius is still enrolled at Wisconsin. He could graduate in December.

“He’s only going to be about six or maybe nine hours short of completion in the fall,” Palermo said. “So he is going to try to concentrate on that. He’s got to take a couple hard classes. It’s best for him that he concentrate on getting his degree.”

Palermo also confirmed that another former defensive starter, linebacker Kareem Timbers, will no longer play football at Wisconsin, also due to injuries.

“The doctors wouldn’t release him,” Palermo said. “He had two really bad shoulders and he had surgery on both of them.”

According to Palermo, Timbers will be placed on a medical scholarship, which does not count against the Badgers’ 85 scholarship allotment.

Timbers started six games at drop linebacker last season as a fourth-year junior. He recorded 21 tackles and two sacks. At 6-foot-3, 209 pounds, Timbers would likely have been moved from the strong side drop position to the weak side will linebacker spot in new defensive coordinator Bret Bielema’s scheme. Timbers’ absence leaves junior LaMarr Watkins as the only experienced linebacker at the will position. Junior Dontez Sanders, a converted safety, and incoming freshmen Jammar Crane and Nick Sutton will likely back up Watkins.

The loss of Jones leaves a significant hole in what could still be a deep defensive line. Wisconsin returns the other three starters from last season’s quartet—tackles Anttaj Hawthorne and Jason Jefferson and end Jonathan Welsh—all of which are seniors. The team also will recoup the services of senior Erasmus James, who missed all of last season after suffering a debilitating hip injury early in fall practices. James has been cleared to practice when Wisconsin’s fall camp begins Aug. 11.

“From the way I understand it, he’ll be ready to go,” Palermo said.

Jones started 11 games at end last season, tallying 40 tackles and 3 ½ sacks. In addition to missing the Music City Bowl loss to Auburn due to the knee injury, Jones was suspended for the Badgers’ week two win over Akron, the result of charges of drunk driving and speeding stemming from a July 21, 2003 arrest in Shorewood Hills, a Madison suburb. In the two-and-a-half years prior to the arrest, Jones was cited twice for underage drinking, and once for speeding, all from separate incidents.

Jones initially enrolled at Wisconsin for the spring 2000 semester. He had graduated early from Beloit Memorial following a sterling prep career that brought him numerous All-American kudos from national publications. He played mostly on special teams as a true freshman, earning his first of three letters.

Jones recorded 10 tackles in less than two games in 2001 before suffering a broken right hand. He took a medical redshirt and returned for his sophomore season in 2002. That year he played in all 14 games, splitting time between defensive end and tackle. He started twice at tackle and had a career-best 42 tackles and five sacks.

Welsh and James have started a combined 27 games at Wisconsin, but there is only one other end on the roster with any game experience. Sophomore Joe Monty played sparingly in 12 games last season, all in reserve, and notched nine tackles.

Monty, though, worked with the first team during spring practices, while James and Jones nursed their injuries, and played well enough to be listed as a starter at left end heading into fall camp. Welsh is set to start on the right side.

“Joe Monty’s in the mix big time in there,” Palermo said. “Right now, he’s the starter until somebody beats him out.”

Redshirt freshman Jamal Cooper, who is listed at 6-4 and just 202 pounds, will be used as a pass rush specialist.

“Until he puts some weight on I don’t see him helping us in any other situations,” Palermo said.

Palermo said he will take a close look at incoming freshmen defensive ends Mike Newkirk and Jason Chapman and tackles Gino Cruse and Nick Hayden to see if any of them can help the team’s depth immediately.

“Physically I think most of them will be ready to play,” Palermo said. “I just don’t know if they’ll be ready mentally.”

If a freshman cannot step up, Palermo said he could move one of his defensive tackles out to end on first down, then move him back inside. Hawthorne took a handful of snaps at end during spring practices and redshirt freshman reserve Justin Ostrowski began his UW career at end.

“We’ll still be OK. I can always move Anttaj, or all those guys, move them around on first down and then put them back inside. We’ll always have flexibility that way,” Palermo said. “I’d obviously like to have the flexibility not to do it. We’ll just have to wait and see how some of these freshmen kids come on. We may look at some other kids at defensive end, which may be able to help us as well.”

In addition to Jones and Timbers, two notable 2003 contributors will not return in 2004.

Senior quarterback Matt Schabert is transferring to Eastern Illinois after being supplanted on Wisconsin’s depth chart by a younger quarterback corps.

Sophomore wide receiver Ernest Mason is expected to transfer. He was suspended indefinitely after two disputes with his girlfriend in a four-month span resulted in six misdemeanor charges. He plead guilty to four counts in May and was placed in Wisconsin’s First Offenders Program.

“I don’t know the details,” Palermo said. “I’m assuming that he transferred to play down in Texas but I don’t know that 100 percent.” Mason played high school football at Dunbar in Fort Worth, Texas.

Other players who are not listed in Wisconsin’s 2004 media guide: sophomore tailback Phillip Fuller, who is expected to transfer, sophomore wide receiver Enrique Cook, junior cornerback Johnny Sylvain and sophomore linebackers Adam Jelinek, Steve Moore and Dan Zess.
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I was there last year and I'm going to treat their fans with the same respect they treated me with. That's the only game i've been to where somebody has wanted to fight me in the stands and after the game you would have thought that we won with the way the Wisconsin "fans" were yelling at all of us. But besides the fact that I hate Wisconsin fans, has anybody heard anything on Anthony Davis. I heard something about his eye and maybe missing the next few games.
 
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JonathanXC said:
I was there last year and I'm going to treat their fans with the same respect they treated me with.
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The bad thing about that is that the fans who travel are usually not the obnoxious asshole types like the ones who go to the home games. It would be better if we could show class in the stands and thump them on the field. This way, they could go home as losers knowing that their fans are the only assholes.
 
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It's sad really...by all accounts, Wisconsin used to have some of the best fans anywhere when their team sucked ass. Look at any written account from the 70's and early 80's, and everyone says that Wisconsin fans knew how to have fun no matter who won, and what the score was, and would often party with the other fans. However, with tub-o-shit and a few wins came the entitlement attitude, and soon enough tey were doing that stupidass jump around bullshit and turning their fan base into the Florida State or Miami of the midwest. There is nothing I don't hate about Wisconsin, and we absolutely CANNOT have them dancing on our logo while comrade lardass has that stupiassed smirk on his face on our field AGAIN. WE NEED TO WIN THIS GAME!
 
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LETZ get it started........ If our defense don't play better this could be another crazy ball game with me in the end lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling wondering why we couldnt pull out the win like I did against NW. haha. Seriously though, we don't need to panick but, it sure isn't a time to feel calm and play like we have the last 2 years. I hope we come out with a jump in our step and play with fire and passion. Lastly I hope we freak'n use our speed for god sakes and blitz them till they can't see straight.

OSU-13 , Wisconsin 10.
 
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bukIpower said:
LETZ get it started........ If our defense don't play better this could be another crazy ball game with me in the end lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling wondering why we couldnt pull out the win like I did against NW.
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Make no mistake, if our defense plays like they have been it wont be another crazy ballgame leaving you wondering how we lost. It will be flat out ugly, like 1999 42-17 ugly.

Wisky is by far the most physical team we will have faced to date and maybe will be for the entire season.

I also disagree about panicking, this game will define 2004. It is beyond huge.

If we win, then maybe the NU thing was a complete fluke and we can still do some damage this year. 8-3 maybe even 9-2 are reasonable.

If we lose, then we are severly overmatched along both OL and DL and 6-5 is a distinct possibility.

Right now in my state of shock over the NU debacle it looks like this to me from here on out:

Wiksy- toss up/likely L
@Iowa-toss up at best
IU-likely W
PSU-likely W
@MSU-likely W
@PU- they might score 100
scUM-their young players are coming along better than ours right now.

In essence who, if anyone, we upset out of UW, Iowa, Purdue, scUM is the number of wins over 6 we get this year. Right now if you offered me 7-4 with a scUM win I'd take it.
 
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It's time for the spread offense. Open up the run with some quick throws and some dodgey-type playcalling. It's definitely time to stop playing slow and play fast. This turnaround and not really fake to the back only takes Zwick's eyes off of downfield. He needs to to be focused downfield all the time and when the defensive line loosens up to come after him check down to some traps. These wideouts are fast and get cushions, so why not take what they give. We don't have to pick at the deep corners of the zone. We need to out-athlete everyone we play on offense.

Defense is not my specialtly but I'd say getting more aggressive with our linebackers would be a nice place to start. Move guys around. Create confusion in blocking. Put Wisconsin in 3rd and long- and STOP THEM. That would be good.

We've recruited a zillion playmakers and they're told not to make mistakes. Give me a break. How many INTs does Bret Favre throw sometimes? A whole bunch. Is the guy sick? Hell yes. He has no conscience. He goes right back out and thinks he can win the game all by himself. Let's be cognizent of our abilities and responsibilities and try to actually play up to our potential. The personnell is abundant on the edges for the offense to utilize. On D, I believe our LBs need to take more risks to get the DEs more involved in the game and create more opportunities for the DBs.

We're way too predictable in every facet-except- the RETURN GAME. Coach Hazell really has lit a fire in that area. I'm really impressed. Coach Hazell is the Coaching MVP at this point.

Just my $0.01. (I'll bank the rest, with interest.)
 
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