The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly: the GATA Edition

When Luke Fickell and his coaching staff came to Madison they emphasized the importance of finishing strong. For quite some time the Badgers had shown an inability to consistently maintain a high level of play throughout all four quarters of a game. At best as fans we have endured heartbreaking late losses or at worst complete collapses. The constant reminders of the late failures of the past have been used to fuel a new sense of purpose for the 2023 Badgers to the point where now they have the opposite problem as they have started every game this season insanely slow. Both offensively and defensively the lack of rhythm in the first halves have lead many fans to question the motivation and planning of the current staff.

There seems to be three breeds of Badger fans now. The first group actively roots against their team in a vain attempt to "prove a point". Unless the playbooks and gameplan are approved by Barry Alvarez then it's clearly communism and what is wrong with America, I mean the Badgers. The second group falls into the "sky is falling" category who expected 70 point victories and a pre-engraved National Championship trophy arriving in Madison for the home opener so when the team has come out with the typical mistakes a new team are capable of it's clearly a sign that Luke Fickell is spending more time on the golf course than on practice field. And the non-vocal minority: the reasonable. New players, new coaches, new everything never work without a hitch. Category 1 and 2 fans would point to "plenty of programs come out hot" but plenty is not the normal. Reasonable fans have seen the issues with the program over the last few years and know that when you start with a soft foundation it takes time to make it solid.

I'm frustrated, but because as a coach I can see how close they are. What they are doing is working, can work, and will work but we are lacking in execution. Remember in the past when it seemed like we were just running into a brick wall over and over again and the solution always was to keep hitting the wall? Now we're in a situation where to get through the wall we just need to turn the knob and open the door. It's a door so a lot of guys can open the door just fine, but some are turning the knob the wrong way, during the knob the right way but then turning and running into the wall anyways, or trying to take the hard way and knock the door down.

Execution is the name of the game. The coaches know it, the players know it, and the reasonable fan knows it and it's fine if you don't see it yet. So let's talk about offensive execution and look into the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Saturday's game against Georgia Southern.

The Good

One of my major areas for concern from the first two games was Tanner Mordecai's footwork and arm angle on his access throws which took away easy free yards plays. Access throws are built into run plays where if Tanner sees the right kind of leverage over the access receiver he will pull the ball out and throw turning a 50/50 chance for success on a run play to a near 100% successful play. This week we saw him drive to the target and deliver a quick catchable ball. We have seen the progression to the next level of the split flow inside zone play by pulling the ball and hitting the TE in the flat against the flow of the defense. And watching Tanner pull the ball on an outside zone read only to load up and throw a strike outside to Skyler Bell on an outlet route was a thing of beauty.

The Bad

Playing center in a fast paced offense is a difficult job with the responsibility to set protections and line calls along with calling the cadence. So when your backup center has been thrust into the starting lineup after having limited experience snapping the ball you can expect some inconsistency, but after three weeks it is starting to become concerning. Quick thinking from the quarterback turned a potential disaster into a highlight reel touchdown, but we can't expect this all the time. When Bortolini tries snapping the ball quicker he loses accuracy, and when he focuses on accuracy he loses a lot of zip on his snap. In an offense that's all based on timing it is really hard to build that when the play starts at different tempos. Receivers are getting out of their stances at different times and this is causing Tanner to change up his footwork in order to try and get back on rhythm which at times causes him to be too early or too late which has lead to a lot of check downs because his progression is messed up. Bortolini is a fantastic offensive linemen so hopefully when Jake Renfro is back out there, and all signs point to him returning for Purdue, not only does the offensive line regain the consistency in the snap but also a high quality guard to line up next to him.

The Ugly

Speaking of the offensive line...I know I sound like a broken record but offensive line play has been horribly lacking so far this season, but especially early on in games. I've seen a lot of Category 1 fans saying "maybe our big linemen aren't built for running plays every 15 seconds" and if that was the case then you would see them having problems finishing not starting. When everyone is fresh and they are making mistakes they are physical/technical mistakes. From losing one on one matchups athletically to losing battles technically through poor execution it has nothing to do with their conditioning. As the game wears on and the opponents get more tired it's actually their conditioning that allows them to take over later in games. Maybe a little bit of wear and tear is what the offensive line needs to slow the game down in their heads and allow them to just play football, but during B1G play there just won't be time to slow the game down. They need to start fast and stay fast. The excuses they have a had over the years just aren't going to cut it anymore when the scheme takes a lot of them away. The Xs and Os have done their thing now the Jimmies and Joes need to step up.

PLAY(s) OF THE DAY - Black 24 Rhino

note: terminology is my own and not an accurate representation of how Phil Longo calls plays. Black is the formation (condensed 3x1) 24 is the blocking scheme (sidecar OZ right) and Rhino is the RPO Tag (backside bubble).

16 yard pass to Will Pauling

Situation- 11:43 left in the 3rd Quarter. 2nd and 10 on Georgia Southern's 16 yard line

Personnel- 11 personnel (Z Dike, H Pauling, Y Rucci, X Green, F Allen)

Concept- Outside zone with a bubble screen RPO

Progression - Presnap reading leverage over bubble. Post snap read the overhang. If he widens with the bubble hand off the OZ, anything else throw the bubble.

Defense- 3-3 Under front, Sam OLB blitz with a cover 4 shell behind.

The Play (the sequence)

After Georgia Southern's last score the Badgers came out in a great sequence of plays. First was an inside zone to Braelon Allen off of jet motion from Will Pauling for a solid 6 yards. Play two was another inside zone, but this time with Hayden Rucci bluffing his block to then releasing to the flat. Allen popped for 32 yards, but Hayden’s release put the conflict defenders on their heals for a brief second helping the play pop. Play three was another designed inside run with a lead power called to the left. Mordecai pulled it and threw an access throw to Bryson Green, but he rushed his footwork and threw the ball low to the outside. Right read, bad execution but again we give the defense similar action but more to try to set up all eyes on Braelon because after an incomplete pass why not go back to the hot back and grinds some yards. Which leads us to the fourth play in the sequence and the Play of the Game. From a condensed 3x1 formation the Badgers came out and ran an outside zone/bubble RPO which caught the conflict player being aggressive and allowed Tanner to throw the ball quickly to Will Pauling on the bubble behind great blocking from Dike and Rucci. The downhill attack of the linebacker helped gain leverage on the defensive backs and allowed Pauling to just turn on the jets and take the ball down to the 4 yards line. That play set up the final play of the drive which was another inside zone this time with zipper motion from Pauling freezing yet another conflict defender and leading to Braelon to be able to cut back and walk into the end zone. A fantastic sequence of plays that tied the game, and the Badgers didn't look back from then.