Jack Coan and Alex Hornibrook weren’t all world I’ll give you that. But they didn’t lose many games either by virtue of dumb throws or numerous mistakes.
Hornibrook was 28-7 starter. Coan is 23-7 as a starter. Mertz is 12-7.
An average QB doesn’t lose to Minnesota or Penn State. They probably beat ND as well.
@Pikes Peak posted:As the most famous Minnesotan opined, when you ain’t got nothing you got nothing to lose
And he had to leave Minnesota to achieve greatness.
Their record against top 25 teams is 12-17 under Chryst.
But I’ll say that the problem isn’t Chryst- it’s Madison. They’re very content to have a team just good enough to generate some excitement but always ending up in disappointment. The program does not have any true desire to be a championship contender.
So realign the expectations and let go of any delusions that the Badgers will ever win a national championship like Ohio State. They’ll never compete with a Clemson or Alabama. Sure, we can always fall back on hiring “good guys” like Chryst and Gard, and not slimy pricks like Urban Meyer… but they’ll keep getting the hardware and we’ll keep delivering the “almosts”.
Hey, at least the Badgers aren’t Texas… 👍
@Blair Kiel posted:Fleck brought that tired shit from Western Michigan.
Imagine referring to a slogan dedicated to the memory of the son you lost to a heart condition shortly after birth as “tired shit”.
nope, tired shit was accurate
@Tschmack posted:Jack Coan and Alex Hornibrook weren’t all world I’ll give you that. But they didn’t lose many games either by virtue of dumb throws or numerous mistakes.
Hornibrook was 28-7 starter. Coan is 23-7 as a starter. Mertz is 12-7.
An average QB doesn’t lose to Minnesota or Penn State. They probably beat ND as well.
A QB that can properly execute handoffs beats Penn State.
I've never seen a Badger QB in the Alvarez era have turnovers on 4 consecutive drives like Mertz did against Notre Dame.
I agree on Michigan being the only team that was clearly more talented overall than Wisconsin this year. The Minnesota loss was as much about Chryst not trusting Mertz to do anything beyond simple throws. Chryst spent most of the season trying to make sure Mertz didn't do things to lose games than calling plays to let him try to win them (and you probably can't blame him after the Penn State and Notre Dame meltdowns).
paul's clearly not getting fired, but not knowing when to go for 2 and running out the punt unit are some of the worst football decisions since leon lett
who the hell is going to play WR next year that couldn't push Davis and Pryor down the depth chart?
I think mertz did play better as the year went on, so there is a glimmer of hope. I wouldn't bet on it, but a glimmer
@TouchdownWhitewaterJesus posted:Imagine referring to a slogan dedicated to the memory of the son you lost to a heart condition shortly after birth as “tired shit”.
I falcon punch cancer patients, so….
@Blair Kiel posted:I falcon punch cancer patients, so….
you do you, hard guy
@MichiganPacker2 posted:The Minnesota loss was as much about Chryst not trusting Mertz to do anything beyond simple throws.
It is not only about Chryst not trusting Mertz, it's knowing Mertz couldn't make the throw even if the reciever was open by 10 yards. I have never seen a 4 star recruit with such a noodle arm.
hopefully hill can beat out mertz next year. the defense probably won’t be as good however
@ammo posted:It is not only about Chryst not trusting Mertz, it's knowing Mertz couldn't make the throw even if the reciever was open by 10 yards. I have never seen a 4 star recruit with such a noodle arm.
Huh, I thought his arm was the only 4 star thing about Mertz.
Vision and timing (and handing the ball off) seems 2 star, but he seems to have plenty of arm
@TouchdownWhitewaterJesus posted:you do you, hard guy
I only punch cancer patients and Viking and Gopher fans...if you don't have cancer, I'm still punching you twice.
@Blair Kiel posted:I only punch cancer patients and Viking and Gopher fans...if you don't have cancer, I'm still punching you twice.
Don’t break a nail.
Damn you and your pithy comebacks!
@"We"-Ka-Bong posted:Huh, I thought his arm was the only 4 star thing about Mertz.
Vision and timing (and handing the ball off) seems 2 star, but he seems to have plenty of arm
He consistantly misses wide open guys, usually short.
Coming out of HS the two things Mertz was lauded for was arm strength and accuracy. So far, I’m not sure arm strength is the problem. Accuracy has been shaky at best.
What I see is he’s not good at anticipating and timing his throws. The best example of this was against Penn State where Dike should have caught the game winning 25 yard TD and Mertz completely air mailed him.
Now, in fairness to him, I’m not sure just how good the Badgers WRs are but Jack Coan didn’t struggle like this with similar weapons
The biggest issue I see with Mertz is he panics and lacks confidence - aka poise. He rushes throws thinking he’s under pressure and at times looks like he’s afraid to get hit. He also just doesn’t seem to have good pocket awareness.
I don’t really know what the solution is at this point but it’s stunning to think Hornibrook and Coan were better players. What I do know is if you cannot protect the football you should not be playing QB for the Badgers.
As for Chryst, we need to remind ourselves that it’s not like he blew the doors off at Pittsburgh. Yes, he started off well with Wisconsin, but the regression has been significant and whatever your view of the world the Badgers are not going to pay him to coach a 7 or 8 win team. Yes, they win games they should (mostly) but against good or decent teams he’s been horrific leading this team. It’s one thing to lose to Michigan and maybe even Notre Dame, but it’s another to lose to slightly better than average Penn State and Minnesota.
@Tschmack posted:Coming out of HS the two things Mertz was lauded for was arm strength and accuracy. So far, I’m not sure arm strength is the problem. Accuracy has been shaky at best.
What I see is he’s not good at anticipating and timing his throws. The best example of this was against Penn State where Dike should have caught the game winning 25 yard TD and Mertz completely air mailed him.
Now, in fairness to him, I’m not sure just how good the Badgers WRs are but Jack Coan didn’t struggle like this with similar weapons
The biggest issue I see with Mertz is he panics and lacks confidence - aka poise. He rushes throws thinking he’s under pressure and at times looks like he’s afraid to get hit. He also just doesn’t seem to have good pocket awareness.
I don’t really know what the solution is at this point but it’s stunning to think Hornibrook and Coan were better players. What I do know is if you cannot protect the football you should not be playing QB for the Badgers.
As for Chryst, we need to remind ourselves that it’s not like he blew the doors off at Pittsburgh. Yes, he started off well with Wisconsin, but the regression has been significant and whatever your view of the world the Badgers are not going to pay him to coach a 7 or 8 win team. Yes, they win games they should (mostly) but against good or decent teams he’s been horrific leading this team. It’s one thing to lose to Michigan and maybe even Notre Dame, but it’s another to lose to slightly better than average Penn State and Minnesota.
Tschmack,
I am right there with you. I think PC is probably a great guy and is definitely a UW guy through and through. Which is great but I sure am getting tired of them losing in big spots like this. It seems like every time they are playing in a big spot they pee down their legs every single time. I can't figure it out if its the players or the coaching philosophy but it has been a pretty constant theme. Now, that being said I am not the type to call for PC to be canned but they have to do something about the offense. I don't know if its the OL or the QB but they have to do something on that side of the ball.
Two things I would like to see offensively next year:
1. Bring in a transfer guy QB). I really am done with Mertz. There are some nice ones out there. However, that will not likely happen so…
2. Bring in a offensive coordinator who can keep the Bucky running concepts but incorporate a more sophisticated passing game, maybe with some RPO. Tolzein is an offense assistant with the Pokes. Maybe he would be an option?
I'm not sure a new QB really fixes things. I think your second point is key.
Badgers football on offense under Chryst is pretty simple. If you can stop the Badgers running game, you usually beat them. If you can't, you lose. If you stop the run game, the passing game scheme seems like something from a high school program. They need to modernize that part of it. They have a TE that is going to play in the NFL, their WRs are fairly talented, and the play-action should open of all sorts of things against what are always 7 or even 8 guys in the box. But it doesn't. That's scheme and coaching.
Chryst blew the QB decision for this year and it probably cost them at least 2 wins (Penn State and Minnesota). Jack Coan may be playing in a playoff game this year. Mertz prevented the Badgers from playing in the Big 10 title game. I agree they have to move on from Mertz, but my guess is that he's going to be the guy for the next two years.
Quinn Ewers leaving the Buckeyes.
@PackerBackerDPM posted:Quinn Ewers leaving the Buckeyes.
Interesting take on this from Andrew Brandt.
I don’t practice in Columbus anymore but only way he gets playing time was mop up or Stroud gets hurt. Don’t know much about him other than was a highly regarded recruit and as references above one of the first to take advantage of the NIL.
Could the chips be falling in Bucky's favor in regards to a new OC? Meyer out in JAX, Bevell interim coach. New staff coming on board with Bevell likely getting the boot. Bevell to Madison as OC?
