Johnkester59

The real problem was in the preseason rankings. UW was always a top 20 team, the national media only has room for OSU and Mich when it comes to the B1G. If they are doing well it completely drowns out every other team in the conference. This was, mistakenly, the first time in a decade that UW wasn't ranked in the preseason top 25.

UW won 10 games last year and took it to USC in Southern California (I know they are overrated but they have a similar rep as LSU, talent overflowing at every position). The year before UW won 11 games (very easily could have been 12 if we had our real QB starting the season as you guys saw first hand) and beat Auburn in the bowl. Both years we had a top 10 D. Before that we won the conference three years in a row.

Our Defense ended the year ranked #1 in the nation last year, #4 against the run, and we returned 6 of our front 7 (plus around 4 or 5 other guys who were heavy in the rotation last year) and by far our best corner. Losing Aranda was a blow but its not like UW had a rep as a bad defensive team before he got here. We still have multiple NFL guys on that side of the ball every year.

Don't believe the ESPN hype, UW was never the underdog the experts presented them as in the lead up for this game. LSU clearly has talent, but so does UW. I don't think any neutral observer would come away from that game saying that the talent on LSU's side was heads and shoulders above that of UW. Seemed to me like there was no real difference in athleticism out there once you got over the preconceived notion that LSU's players simply ARE better just because they play for LSU. If anything, UW seemed to have the biggest 'talent' advantage and it was in the trenches.

Take a deep breath Tiger fans, its not like you lost to South Georgia St, you lost to a top 15-20 team playing with a state sized chip on its shoulder. In the hype you didn't take us seriously, you didn't actually look at the tape and see how our strengths matched up with yours, you dismissed the defensive rankings as products of a weak B1G and the coordinator that you stole, you ignored the many Badger fans who came here to talk X's and O's in favor of SEC chest thumping. So now, sitting on the other side, it feels like the world has gone all topsy turvy on you and you are lashing out at those closest to you just to feel something.

Did LSU look good? No, there are clearly issues that need to be ironed out. But playing a top 5 defense on the road had a whole lot to do with it. Take a step back from the edge and realize that there were two proud programs out on that hallowed field on Saturday, it wasn't just LSU crapping the bed.

This seems like the best place to put this so here goes.

First off, good game, other than Orr there didn't seem to be many lasting injuries so that is always a good place to start. People are still way underselling UW (and the Lambeau factor), LSU is going to be fine.

UW has won 30 games in the last 3 years despite going through three head coaches in that span. We got handled the last two years by the National Champions and everyone forgot about us. Wisconsin is no joke, and you all treated us like a joke.

Maybe its not that LSU's offense is horribly broken, maybe playing a top 3 defense in CFB had quite a bit to do with it. I know everyone wants to dismiss the numbers because of the B1G and the fact that we lost our DC to you, but UW has been playing outstanding D for a long time now, way before Aranda got here. He put a different spin on it but we have built a top 15 program from the scrap heaps of the CFB basement based on our tough D over the last 30 years. We returned virtually our entire front 7 from the top rushing D in the country last season and everyone thought we did it with smoke and mirrors and some Aranda pixie dust. No one was giving our guys any credit for the numbers they have put up over their careers. They had a major chip on their shoulders and played with no fear yesterday. LF7 will be one of the very few to go over 100 in game against this UW defense, I think his performance will end up being more of a boon to his Heisman chances than it seems today.

In short UW is really, really good on defense. Aranda definitely helped us reach new heights but we didn't suddenly forget what he taught us just because he left. Our D returned a ton of guys who have played, and played well, in big games. LSU will not see many more talented defenses the rest of the year (Bama obviously), LSU's O will still put up some gaudy numbers.

Finally and maybe most importantly, the game was at Lambeau Field. Of course UW won this game. This was the single most important factor of this game and it went completely under the radar. LSU fans thought of it as a neat vacation. ESPN thought it would give LF7 a nice backdrop to kick off his victory tour and a natural tie in to all their draft programing. To UW, to us, this was a lifetime of waiting, wishing, hoping and finally seeing a dream come true. This was fricking Lambeau, this is our lifeblood, the single biggest source of pride to a state of 6 million often overlooked souls. This was an SEC team FINALLY coming to our neck of the woods. Its easy to dismiss B1G fan bases as inferior when you have only ever seen them as the road team, 1,000's of miles from their homes. There are millions of us up here who live this game just like you do, you just never see us because you haven't come here since 1988. We are always coming to your neighborhood to play and you consistently dismiss it as a factor when we bring it up. Well, paybacks a bitch. I hope you come back real soon.

LOL had to get that off my chest. In all seriousness good game LSU, it was a classic CFB slugfest. As the year plays out this loss will look much better, UW has been shockingly overlooked for some reason. This was a really good UW team playing in a supercharged atmosphere with all the motivation in the world, the season is far from over. LSU in my mind is still an 11 win team. Good luck this year, hopefully next time you guys will give us a little more respect in the lead up. :cheers:

I wouldn't rely on the video too much with him. He has only really played in one game, Illinois last year, and it was crazy windy. He actually has a pretty solid arm and has by far the most zip of any QB on the team. Decision making has been his limiting factor so far.

LSU is clearly a more storied program than UW, but we take this football thing pretty seriously up here too. I have to say after the last game we played where we knocked you around for three quarters before 2 of our 3 dlinemen were hurt (plus MGIII) would have given you guys a little more respect for our program but whatever. We have always been a team that proves it on the field, not the boards, and you guys will be reminded of that soon enough. Not saying UW will win but it will be a hard fought game for sure. Back to the op, I'll just leave this here...
Camp Randall

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If Wisc can close this gap in talent then you have some of the best coaches in the country.

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If only we could get some talent...


3* 2* 4* 2*

M

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Is Greenbay a big enough city to handle all your fans & 30K LSU fans, or should we try & stay in Milwaukee for instance? If not there, where is the next most practical city to stay for 3/4 days?

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Haha, no it is not. I would guess that every hotel in Green Bay is already sold out. If you are going to be there for a few days I would strongly suggest Milwaukee. Its about an hour and half drive but is a much better city. The other option is Appleton but there is no reason to go to Appleton unless you have family there. Everything you can do in Appleton you can do in Milwaukee plus about ten thousand other things.

As for tailgating… Its Lambeau. We pretty much invented it. :cheers:

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7-6 at halftime with Gordon getting 62 yards all game is kicking the shite out of them?

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Yes our backup had 62 yards. Did you happen to notice how our starter did? 19 132 6.9 2 TDs for New England Patriot James White. They were extra keyed on Gordon because he was an Iowa commit for a good chunk of his senior year before reneging and staying home at UW.

The game is two halves for a reason and yes beating one of our biggest rivals at their place by 3 TDs was kicking their butts. UW-Iowa games usually finish something like 17-10, 31-30, 21-17. For either team to win by three TD's is rare. The all time series is 43-42-2 UW.

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You have a piss poor QB and absolutely no receivers

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As opposed to your proven QB and seasoned WRs? Pot meet kettle.

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how much better (presumably) is this Wisconsin team to the Iowa team LSU played in the bowl game last year?

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Its tough to say for sure until we see how the front 7 comes together but I would say significantly. Iowa's RB was Mark Weismen who ran for 938 yards at 4.5 ypc and 7 TDs. UW's backs both ran for over 1,400 yards and 12 td's as they set an NCAA record for most rushing yards by a duo in CFB history. The two guys we return averaged 7.8 (Gordon) and 8.2 (Clement) YPC. The WR's are a total question mark but Iowa's receivers were terrible so I think its a wash there. The O-lines are the most similar aspects of our teams these days though I would (obviously) give the nod to UW.

The defenses are really not comparable anymore as we run a blitz heavy 3-4 and they run a strictly base 4-3.

As has been mentioned, we beat that Iowa team @Iowa 28-9 so take that for FWIW. The mental toughness and physical nature of the teams are similar but the talent differential at the skill positions is pretty lopsided in the Badgers favor.