Various college games round up

A few talking points from some of the college games I've finally got around to watching recently.

Wisconsin @ Michigan State - October 2nd, Week 5

First time I've seen the Wisconsin offensive line in action, and they are mightily impressive. They put on a master class in legal blocking, blitz pick up and driving the Michigan State D-line back on almost every play.

Even I could run for good yards behind such ability, and so John Clay was able to with relative ease. Clay is a good downhill momentum runner, but he sometimes makes unnecessary cuts, and I was more impressed by freshman running back James White who has greater agility and acceleration. White ran in for Wisconsin's first touchdown behind the line who not only picked up the Michigan State blitz, but actually drove the Spartans back a step. Stunning:



Because of the effectiveness of the running game, the Spartans were forced to bring linebackers up to make tackles, leaving their defensive backs dangerously exposed. Though passes were completed as a result and often under heavy blitz pressure, there were also a number of drops from Badger receivers, and the passing game never really got going for Wisconsin.

Strangely, the Badgers also adjusted their running strategy to using outside runs and end- arounds for no apparent reason, and it ended drives prematurely. One such resulting punt ended up with Keyshawn Martin returning the ball to the house for a State touchdown, and the momentum began to shift.

I love watching Michigan State with Kirk Cousins at quarterback, as you know you are guaranteed some offensive fireworks. Cousins flings the ball with almost reckless abandon to a number of different receivers, but despite his good accuracy especially when throwing deep or to the sidelines, he doesn't particularly have a great deal of pace on the ball.

Every once in a while this results in an errant throw for an easy interception as happened here. If he goes pro, Cousins will face defensive backs with far more pace and vision and is liable to throw plenty of interceptions unless he learns to check down or throw the ball away.

The Wisconsin D-line were as solid as their offensive counterparts, and even with Michigan State throwing in Tight-Ends for extra blockers, Wisconsin were still sacking Cousins. The Spartan running game largely suffered too as a result, but State showed some ability of their own to block downfield on a number of outside runs. It was strange that State's play-calling appeared to ignore this; with a 1st and goal and on all four subsequent downs they resolutely tried to run the ball through the middle, unsurprisingly to no avail.

The Wisconsin secondary was also decidedly porous, and against a receiving corps as talented as that of MSU's they were always liable to be punished. With a running game established, the play-action pass was devastatingly efficient for State, and Charlie Gantt and B J Cunningham converted endless first downs and scores.

On the other side of the ball, Wisky quarterback Scott Tolzien appeared to lose confidence in his receivers deep downfield, and wary of MSU's talented linebackers, attempted to rely on shorter routes underneath interspersed with White running the football.

But it wasn't enough. State ran the clock on a huge drive in the last quarter, and Wisconsin were unable to slow them. Wisconsin lost thanks to bad drops, penalties, and questionable play-calling.

This being the first time I have seen Wisconsin this season, maybe that is all they can offer; a strong offensive line and running game. But if you struggle to score and cannot stop teams from scoring the other way, you're heading for defeat.