eight hours later, through limitless stopped traffic, a shooting on the Dan Ryan (what is going on in Chicago??), we arrived at the Mariner's Inn on Lake Mendota for a great meal with our friend Mike Wolver (first letter to the editor ever written for the Wolverine Magazine).
Spoke to a few Badgers fans at the bar. They are really down on this team. The offensive line can't move, despite being huge. They were supposed to be able to run the ball on Notre Dame — didn't happen. Quarterback Graham Mertz scares the hell out of them. When he gets pressure — and it happens a lot when he goes back to pass — the first thing he does is panic and put his head down, John O'Korn style.
Their best bet is to dumb down the game plan, hope they can rely on their defense, play field position and that Mertz doesn't panic and turn it over. Because turnovers are the reason they're 1-2. They badly outplayed Penn State in a 16-10 home loss to open the year, really played ND toe to toe before self destructing, allowing a long kick return before having to throw and Mertzing.
But they expect the crowd to help them. It's Barry Alvarez Day here — they're dedicating the field to him at halftime, and he's an icon here, obviously — and they understand the season's over with a loss.
The Badgers' version of Doug Skene, a former player who breaks down film, has watched a ton of film on Michigan. He believes the Wolverines are a 'fraud,' especially on offense ... that the offensive line has done it against weaker competition or poor schemes, and that Jim Leonhard (Wisconsin defensive coordinator) is going to shut it down, make Cade McNamara beat them.
They don't think the Wolverines have the skill position players to beat them.
At the same time, they know they're limited on offense, and per some of their insiders, head coach Paul Chryst believes Michigan's defense is much better equipped to slow their offense. He's impressed with U-M defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald's schemes and knows the free lunch is over ... thinks they'll have to earn what they get and believes they'll be in a fight.
We had a lot of time to talk on the trip. Best bets here against the spread were Iowa -3 vs. Maryland, Notre Dame as a home dog vs. Cincinnati (they'll be motivated by that, and they're not losing to that program at home), and Wisconsin vs. Michigan. John Bacon predicted Michigan, 31-10 ... no, he doesn't 'know something' everyone else doesn't. But if that happens, we'll let the poster of your choice moderate this board for a week in the near future.
Weather forecast has changed ... it rained this morning, and there's a 40 percent chance of scattered storms this afternoon. Yesterday they said it would just be cloudy. Should have remained a meteorologist (studied it for a year and a half in college) — where can you be wrong so often and still have a job? (other than - uh - college football prognosticator).
Here's hoping for a great day. This could be a springboard for the rest of the season, and it would be great to play some big, meaningful games in October.
Spoke to a few Badgers fans at the bar. They are really down on this team. The offensive line can't move, despite being huge. They were supposed to be able to run the ball on Notre Dame — didn't happen. Quarterback Graham Mertz scares the hell out of them. When he gets pressure — and it happens a lot when he goes back to pass — the first thing he does is panic and put his head down, John O'Korn style.
Their best bet is to dumb down the game plan, hope they can rely on their defense, play field position and that Mertz doesn't panic and turn it over. Because turnovers are the reason they're 1-2. They badly outplayed Penn State in a 16-10 home loss to open the year, really played ND toe to toe before self destructing, allowing a long kick return before having to throw and Mertzing.
But they expect the crowd to help them. It's Barry Alvarez Day here — they're dedicating the field to him at halftime, and he's an icon here, obviously — and they understand the season's over with a loss.
The Badgers' version of Doug Skene, a former player who breaks down film, has watched a ton of film on Michigan. He believes the Wolverines are a 'fraud,' especially on offense ... that the offensive line has done it against weaker competition or poor schemes, and that Jim Leonhard (Wisconsin defensive coordinator) is going to shut it down, make Cade McNamara beat them.
They don't think the Wolverines have the skill position players to beat them.
At the same time, they know they're limited on offense, and per some of their insiders, head coach Paul Chryst believes Michigan's defense is much better equipped to slow their offense. He's impressed with U-M defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald's schemes and knows the free lunch is over ... thinks they'll have to earn what they get and believes they'll be in a fight.
We had a lot of time to talk on the trip. Best bets here against the spread were Iowa -3 vs. Maryland, Notre Dame as a home dog vs. Cincinnati (they'll be motivated by that, and they're not losing to that program at home), and Wisconsin vs. Michigan. John Bacon predicted Michigan, 31-10 ... no, he doesn't 'know something' everyone else doesn't. But if that happens, we'll let the poster of your choice moderate this board for a week in the near future.
Weather forecast has changed ... it rained this morning, and there's a 40 percent chance of scattered storms this afternoon. Yesterday they said it would just be cloudy. Should have remained a meteorologist (studied it for a year and a half in college) — where can you be wrong so often and still have a job? (other than - uh - college football prognosticator).
Here's hoping for a great day. This could be a springboard for the rest of the season, and it would be great to play some big, meaningful games in October.
