With the 2012 football season rapidly approaching and attention turning to on field activities, many have seemingly forgotten the high amount of turnover the Wisconsin coaching staff has gone through.
Adam Rittenberg investigates how the Badgers hope to succeed after the departure of six assistant coaches. It's an interesting read and gives a good insight to the new faces in Madison.
It's our final week on the B1G Countdown to Kickoff and what better way to start it off than looking at the team that forms the other half of the Heartland Trophy? Of course we're talking about the Iowa Hawkeyes. Joining our editor Andy was Marc Morehouse of the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Topics covered include:
So, if you missed it LIVE check it out below! Up tomorrow are the Purdue Boilermakers and we'll be talking to Mike Carmin of the Lafayette Journal & Courier and Ryan Dowd of BoiledSports.com airing LIVE at 10amCT.
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The news of Danny O'Brien winning the starting quarterback job probably came as little to no surprise to anyone, but the other bit of news coming out of Badgers camp this weekend probably does surprise a few people and that news is there is a real battle going on at the Kicker spot.
A lot of people (myself included) assumed that Kyle French had the starking place kicking duties all to himself after seeing game action last season and having a strong showing this spring. But, apparently this needs a "Not so fast my friends," as freshman Jack Russell has stepped up in fall camp and is giving French a real challenge at the spot.
According to Head Coach Bret Bielema after Saturday's scrimmage Kyle French has been struggling as of late, but that's not the case for Russell, the Waunakee native.
"On the flip side of it Jack Russell did very well today," said Bielema.
The competition between the French and Russell is real and apparently has been since camp opened up, not just in the past week or so.
"Going into fall camp we thought it was wide open," Bielema said on Saturday. "Kyle obviously did well last year his first four games, so you kind of believe those things will come out."
French was 3-5 on field goals last season while Phillip Welch was on the shelf and Russell wowed crowds at both the state title game for Waunakee and in the state high school all-star game.
"Jack Russell is a very impressive kid," Bielema said. "We all saw what he did at the state championship game, [and] I heard what he did at the all-star game. There's just something to those type of guys."
Taylor Melhaff, the former Badger kicker, was one of first guys to get the ear of Bielema in talking about Russell, who was a kid that he had been working with and was very impressed by. Bielema was impressed that a guy like Melhaff would have that many positive things to say about him so early on.
Perhaps as Badger fans and talking heads we were all looking in the wrong direction for a true battle in camp. It appears this one could go into the season opener at this point, unless French can get out of the funk he currently is in.
No matter who wins the job it's got to be good for Bielema and Co. that should one begin to struggle they have a capable player behind them.
Wisconsin's much anticipated quarterback battle is over, at least for the time being. Tonight via twitter Bret Bielema named Maryland transfer Danny O'Brien the starting quarterback for the Badgers' week one matchup with Northern Iowa.
Also had so many questions about our QB situation that want everyone to know we are going to start Danny O'Brien in our opener against UNI.
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) August 20, 2012
O'Brien beat out senior Curt Phillips and redshirt freshman Joel Stave to win the starting job. O'Brien transferred to Wisconsin from Maryland in June. The former ACC rookie of the year has 17 collegiate starts under his belt from his time with the Terrapins.
Coming in to camp, we knew that O'Brien was the favorite to win the job. As we got further in to camp it became more evident that he was going to be the guy. This is now two straight years the Badgers have started transfer quarterbacks.
Both Curt and Joel had great camps as well, we are very fortunate that we have 3 QB's that can play winning football for us. On Wisconsin!
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) August 20, 2012
From what he said tonight, Bielema seems to be very comfortable with the quarterback situation currently, which is good considering that was arguably the biggest concern amongst fans coming in to the season. It's great to have some light shed in that department, as quarterbacks have been key in the Badgers' past two Rose Bowl runs.
O'Brien hasn't won the battle yet though. He has two very talented guys behind him that will be more then willing to take his spot if he doesn't perform well. We'll keep you updated on the Badgers' QB situation as the season rolls on.
For more from Cole make sure to check him out on Twitter @Colewbrown and follow us on Twitter @MTBadgers and Facebook.
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| Cara Walls - courtesy UW Athletics |
Madison, Wis. - Friday's opener came down to the final minutes of the game, no such thing happened Sunday afternoon as Wisconsin routed the visiting South Dakota State Jackrabbits 5-0 in front of 444 fans in attendance at the McClimon Soccer Complex.
With the victory the Badgers moved to 2-0 to start the season, something they haven't done since going 3-0-1 to start the 2005 season.
It was Wisconsin's game from the start of things as they unleashed a bevy of offense on the Jackrabbits. After recording 12 shots in the first half, the Badgers recorded 23 total shots on the day. 10 of them landed on frame and 5 of those 10 landed in the back of the net for a heck of an efficient effort from Wisconsin.
As dominate as the Badgers offense was the defense was also up to the task, shutting out their 2nd straight opponent. Lauren Gunderson got the start in net for Wisconsin for the 2nd straight game and played the first 63 minutes, having to make just 1 save on just 1 shot on goal for the entire game. Her replacement, Olivia Huff, didn't have to make a single stop in her 27 minutes of action.
Wisconsin's 5 goals came from 5 different ladies, all of which recorded their first goals of the season in the win. The Badgers opened up their account in the 22nd minute as Kinley McNicoll slotted home the eventual game winner. Lindsey Johnson recorded the assist on the goal, which was the Badgers and her's first assist of the season.
Alright, we're putting out the call to all you awesome Badger fans out there. We've been challenged by the folks over at Buckeye Empire! We're in need of you fellow Badger fans to join our editor Andy and some of the other staff members in a fantasy football league courtesy of E!SPN.
It's for prizes and should a Badger fan win you'll get your choice of Badger gear (ahhghem... MadTownBadgers Store anyone?) We've been told the Buckeyes think they'll win we say b.s., there's no way in hell a Luckeye fan could possibly know more about Big Ten football than a Badger fan, right? So help us win this thing and earn the blogging version of bragging rights!!
Here are the details for the league:
First off you need to sign up for an ESPN account if you don't have one already (it's FREE).
Secondly, the name of the League: The Empire B1G Challenge
The Password: embracethehate
Lastly, this isn't a draft league, you pick the players you want on your team each week regardless of what others pick and the team with the best point total by the end of the season wins, it's really simple and easy to set up. Seriously, you know you've got about 3 minutes to set up a team somewhere during the week, right?
So, let's show the Buckeye fans what Wisconsin is all about!
While poking around the Big Ten Network website late this past week I came across this gem of a headline "Minnesota adds 108-year old national title" and I just had to find out what the hell they
were talking about.
I mean, seriously, how do you not know you won a national championship in any sport? Those are things you'd think you'd document and remember for all-time, right? But if any team would "forget" a national championship it would be the Gophs.
I guess they're awesome at spelling, terrible at math over there at Eastern Dakota University?
As Badger fans we are all well aware of the most recent argument that Gopher fans seem to have in the "Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe," you know the whole "We've got 6 national championships and you've got zero" one? Ya, I'm sure you've heard it a few times from those folks who dared cross the border and put on the maroon and gold instead of the Cardinal and White (and I'm talking students not just players here).
They certaintly can't claim they own the series as Wisconsin has a 37-24-3 record in the Axe portion of the series. (Yes, Gopher fans I'm aware that the overall series is 59-54-8 in your favor.. how's the modern day history treating you though?)
Well, apparently they are trying to claim another national championship actually happened, some 30 years before the first one that they claim happened, happened. Yep, we're talking about the 1904 National Championship.
Wisconsin continues to haul in the talent for the 2014 class as early Saturday night Madison area native Jaden Gault announced his verbal commitment to the Badgers. The Monona Grove High School offensive lineman made his announcement via Twitter on Saturday night.
He made the announcement stating simply: "Just committed to play football for the university of Wisconsin! #WiscONsin" on his Twitter account.
Gault joins fellow in-state offensive lineman George Panos along with Sturgis, Michigan QB Chance Stewart as the verbal commitments so far in 2014 class for the Badgers. Stewart and Panos are both 4 star recruits (according to 247sports) and are ranked 244 and 119 in the first 2014 Top247 by 247sports.
With this commitment Wisconsin has already hauled in a heck of a start to class with 247sports ranking the Badgers 1st in the Big Ten and 9th nationally at the moment. Now, I'm sure this will change as big names commit and what not, but for a program that has seen the number of scholarships available hurt their rankings in 2012 and 2013 this start indicates they are off to building themselves a class that will be in the upper echelons of the Big Ten.
I spoke to Gault this evening after the announcement and he had a few simple things to say to Badger fans out there.
So, how many of you are pumped up for the start of the 2012 Badger football season? It is only 14 days away after all! Well, if you didn't already know we have our very own clothing store were you the fellow fan can get everything from our logo t's to iPad/iPhone covers on a regular basis at the MadTownBadgers Store.
Well, we are proud to announce that we have just released our 2012 Fall Football shirts & hoodies for your consumption!! Why not show off your favorite site to your friends while tailgating this fall, right? We've got you covered with our Slogan "Keeping It Bucky" T-Shirts and our official Badger Football T-shirts and hoodies with the theme "Run BWG".... (Ball, White, Gordon) on them!
Remember, all shirts you buy go directly to helping us add equipment and benefit our charities of choice: The JJ Watt Foundation and Team Rubicon, so please consider supporting us with your dollars so that we can give you the fellow fan the best coverage available for FREE!!
Take a look at a few of the pics below and we'll be rolling out the full line to women and children as the weekend progresses.
So make sure you head over to the MadTownBadgers Store and help support this awesome community and some great charities as well!! We thank you in advance and as always ON WISCONSIN!!
MADISON, Wis. - They say revenge is a dish best served cold and that's exactly what the Wisconsin Women's Soccer team did as they opened up their 2012 campaign by beating visiting Notre Dame 1-0 on Friday night at the McClimon Soccer Complex in front of 1,136 fans celebrating the start to all
Badgers sports for the 2012-13 year.
Those 1,136 fans on hand tonight had to wait out an anxious 83 plus minutes as the eventual game winner came at the 83:41 mark off the boot of Senior Monica Lam-Feist.
After stepping in front of a pass in the mid-field the goal came from a blast just outside the box that banked off the left post and in. The goal came completely unassisted.
With the victory tonight Wisconsin got revenge for a 2-0 season opening defeat at the hands of the then top ranked Irish in South Bend, IN last season.
The Irish came into 2012 ranked 28th after receiving votes in the 1st NSCAA poll of this season and are perennial Big East powers.
For Wisconsin the win marks just the 2nd victory over Notre Dame in program history as the all-time record now stands at 13-2-1 in favor of the Irish. The first victory over the Irish came back in 1989. It also marked the Badgers first win in a season opener in over five years, the last coming via a 3-2 win over Creighton in 2006.
