Wisconsin Badgers vs. Western Michigan - 3 BIG THINGS & SCORE PREDICTIONS

it's game week number one which means midweek shows are back I'm a he's Justin here we [Music] go welcome to the Bucky report your destination for all things Wisconsin Badgers authentic takes oh my God game analysis touchdown Badgers ring one up and discussion from the fan perspective Wooh thanks for joining us on [Applause] Wisconsin welcome to the Bucky report we are your hosts Reeve and Justin back together for the relaunch of our midweek episodes the season is here you're gonna have midweek quick hit episodes from Justin and I all year the re the Resurgence of our three big things where we kind of break down our keys to the game and of course our predictions if you're new to the Bucky report this is going to be our show hit the Subscribe button like share everything you need to do so you can know when we make new content Justin how you feeling game week one is finally here man game week one it's also the day it's opening day Eve for us Christmas Eve basically the better way to say it right y same same thing but I I have like 37 Christmas EES associated with apparently the college football season so we have National sighting Day official visits everything is a Christmas for you but let's get into this the buy reports three big things all right Justin three big things for the Western Michigan game I'll kickoff number one own the trenches on both sides of the ball when Wisconsin was at their best in the last 10 15 years and what I think we will continue to be it's domination of the trenches we have to own the lines and that means the offensive line getting tons of push creating that space for the for the running backs the defensive line not getting swallowed up by blocks you're playing a Mac team we're going to have a lot of games this year where we're not going to be able to dominate The Trenches this one has to be one where we actually dominate up front and really put these guys in their place where they should be this is a Max school if we're GNA do anything like we say we're g to do your predictions 9 and3 mins 8 and4 this has to be where it all starts I mean it has to be yeah I think that that's exactly how I feel about that I mean it's in general for me we we you and I discussed before the game or before coming on here that I I had you had looked the part down for one of ours and I'm kind of pushing back a little bit on I asked you to change it because I wanted it to be Tyler van djk but uh it it's overall the team has to look like if if we're gonna finish with the record that I've predicted it's got to start to show early it can't be one of those things where this team grows as much during the season we have too many big games for that to be the case and if they don't come out swinging we're going to lose a game that we shouldn't just because the team doesn't seem as locked in as they should be I think that they absolutely need to show in these first couple of games that they're they came to play this year and that means overall they need to be dominant in the trenches defensive line I don't think we're going to necessarily see a dominant dominant group this year because there's just not the depth or Talent quite there yet um they could still play well but offensively I think the offensive line has a chance to be one of the top three or four in the Big 10 and if that's the case especially if we have a decent passing game this year this offensive line needs to gash people they need to absolutely torch people on the ground and I think they're capable of that I don't think we have an Elite Talent at the running back position but I do think we have guys that are good enough that if the line is a good offensive line unit that they can be an above average Rush game for sure and I think that that needs to show against Western Michigan and it's a deep running back room so while while while you're right about the eliteness there could be some Elite Talent back there but uh it's really deep do you think though on the defensive side of the ball that even I mean even though we don't love our our defensive line in this game though against Western Michigan we should be able to to beat the up front we should be able to stuff a lot of their runs and really dominate even on the defensive side of the ball against this team yeah I think well against Western Michigan yes I think that they can be I think between the outside linebackers and the defensive linemen I think they'll they'll be dominant I think they'll be good enough to be disruptive against Western Michigan and I don't believe that there's enough Talent on that on the western Michigan team to stop them e the players that we have on the defensive line are good enough to be disruptive against Western Michigan now we can argue whether they're good enough to be disruptive against the Bas the Oregons of the world that is definitely fair to say against Western Michigan they should get it done you're higher pedigree a player you need to be able to make plays against this caliber of opponent absolutely all right Justin take number two yeah defensive domination I want to see this look like the defensive units that we saw with Jim Leonard um I'm not saying that they won't give up some points or maybe a play here and there but they need to absolutely shut down Western Michigan in this game I think they need to prove that the pass rush is legit again I I think we both agree that the defensive backfield is more than adequate in this game they should be dominant and stop them from being able to play in the air which should allow the defense to be disruptive and and the the edges really should be able to come downhill in this game because I think that the receivers are going to struggle to gain separation and actually make plays which should give Wisconsin absolutely an opportunity to have a really impressive defensive showing in this game yeah you know I talked um on lock on Badgers a couple days ago with Ryan about the experience we have on this team especially in the secondary senior Laden Group plus Rico hmet who's a junior but he's basically in his last year we've got three seniors in the in the two deep for the secondary so yeah they've got to be dominant one of the things that I'm looking for defensively and I've said this before missed tackles last year we struggled in the early part of the year I made a graph here I'm gon to put this up for if you're watching on YouTube if you're listening I'll talk through it though you can see that our Miss tackle percentage actually got better throughout the year because early in the season if you remember Luke figle did not do live practices so this year that should hopefully change we had a season High 27% Miss tackle percentage against Purdue Washington state was other Spike 22% but as the season progressed we actually got into the 10 11 12% which I think is where we need to be ideally in this game last year against Buffalo it was 15% so ideally in this game it's 10 or under but hopefully with the live reps that we've had we're not going to have those issues and zachman is starting safety this year against wer opposite wer both of those guys had under 10% Miss tackle percentages last year versus camoa 2 who is not necessarily the starter had a much higher I think it was 25% so I'm really gonna be looking for that in this game because again the schedule only gets tougher and if you can't do it in this game you're really going to struggle as the Seas progresses so miss tackle percentage is something I'm watching for right away yeah I I think in general and not just missed tackles I think from a a physicality standpoint I expect us to be ahead of the curve in this game just because these guys are more comfortable with the hitting um which should allow them to play more physical and be you know kind of more on point and be aggressive uh which is something I felt like we struggled with a little bit early last year so hopefully that's the case and that physicality and that just the brute strength kind of comes through a little bit more than what we've seen in the past few years and we look good in that regard but I think yeah that's I think that will play that way I think the tackling should be sharper than we were expecting um I think we we should be fresh I think this is a team that from a depth standpoint we can completely overwhelm even our second group of guys is going to be better athletes than what they're rolling out there so we should be in good shape in this game to to make some plays on the defensive side of the ball for sure yeah the the depth in the linebacking room and the secondary is there depth in defensive front Okay that's debatable but especially this a good game for some of those young guys to get reps like I want to see Johnson out there and get get some reps and this is a game he can make mistakes and it's not going to kill you yeah and it's going to be really good to see that linebacking crew for the first time we've been talking about them for how many months now you know like the pay Thomas' Leon Larry all these guys that and and and the jumps that we expect to see from Peterson and Cheney so it's nice to be able to actually see this lineup in person all right Justin number three you like this one yeah NE TVD needs to look the part like this is just with regards to this season this is not a season that he can find himself he needs if if we're going to have an above average season and and show a lot of growth this season he's got to be the guy ready to go right away like he's gotta go out there this is a game and we we kind of talked about before we came live I said he's got to have a game here where he goes for like 280 and a couple of scores or like 240 and three touchdowns kind of game where he looks really sharp and just as making the smart easy plays that are there we're going to have better athletes on the field than Western Michigan we should overwhelm them he should have some pretty reads in this game he needs to look the part he needs to look like a guy who's a draftable quarterback in this game and if that's the case then that's a really good stepping stone to head into the season with Wisconsin um at the very least I think he needs to have a game where you're looking at like 200 yards and a couple of scores like he's got to look like a competent quality quarterback for Big 10 playing let me ask you this what's your perspective on showing not showing too much in the first game obviously to put things on film but also getting live reps against a different opponent other than your own you know like that's something I want to see us try different formations out utilize different players but you also don't want to put much on film what what's your perspective on how much you want to see Tyler vany actually do against the team that we're probably G to dominate up front pretty well I don't think this is a team that he's going to have to run a bunch of different plays to dominate against I think athletically we can do that what I don't want to see is I don't want to see us run the ball 37 straight times like we used to do Paul Chris it's got to be show the balance just be kind of you know we're going to run the football and I do expect us to have a split where we we're heavily in favor of the run this is goingon to be a 6040 game probably but I want us to see it like like the 25 times or whatever he throws this game I want him to be very effective I'd really like to see a high yards per attempt which I think we're capable of and I want to see production out of this where our receivers look good I don't want to see us nickel and Diamond down the field I don't want to see eight- yard completions I want to see us get into the intermediate game and show some things because I think there should be room in those spots Western mion's not Western Michigan's defense not gonna overwhelm you athletically there's going to be spots that you're going to be able to attack he's got the arm to do it so I think it's definitely something we could see but I yeah I think I think we will be fairly balanced in that regard there's going to be a lot of times where we probably run especially late second half where we start just leaning on the Run game where it's like all right this game's dead let's let's go move on but I think Longo's also the type of coordinator that even if we put in a reserve like if lock comes into the game he'll still throw I just don't think he's gonna lean heavily on it at that point like he'll probably have five attempts or six attempts or something like that but I don't expect him to throw a ton unless it's situationally necessary yeah I agree not put not you know throwing too much leading on it too much but I do want to see like you said I want to see some deep balls I want to see his try to things try different lineups out try different formations out double slots with with trch and and Pauling I don't want to put a ton on film but I do feel like this is It's I hate to say this because it's if we if it's a close game I'm gonna eat these words but these games can be glorified scrimmages to an extent and I think we have to utilize that because in on the 14th of September we're playing Alabama and we've got this game and we've got a game against an FCS good FCS opponent we need to be working things in I completely agree with you I do not want to see us run the ball 40 straight times just because we can we need to put things out there and really try I think we've all we're all really excited for Tyler Van Dyke in the sense that you know I don't love having another year of a transfer quarterback but we've talked a lot about his physical attributes that he brings he can still run the ball he can definitely throw the Deep ball if he can establish a good connection with these receivers right now it's going to bode well for us and the these are the two games you really need to see it in because it's we're not going to get much a chance after these two games the schedule gets brutal for the next 10 there's a couple in there in between that you could say that you know they're winnable but there's not a ton and this is our opportunity to get that done so I'm very excited to see what T bendi can do and can he be the guy that you mentioned yards per attemp the other day I said that I want to see nine in this game now we averaged 6.6 last year Tyler van dyin is freshman season um at Miami average nine and in this particular game there's no reason why we shouldn't see and nine yards per per attempt I mean I I think it could even be double digits like if he's if he's effective and they and the athletes play like if trch and Pauling are getting free I think you can definitely see a really high yards per attempt because I don't think we're going to throw a ton but I think you can get to 200 yards in this game fairly easy if you get those guys loose in space they'll gash some plays so I think there's a possibility that they will be able to get a high yards per attempt I don't expect that kind of thing over the course of the Season agree but but I absolutely expected in games like this where he's going to be effective and show a high yards per attempt yeah and you mentioned the fact that they're not going to overwhelm us athletically on the defensive side of the ball which means that we should be able to get a lot of yards out for catch as well like you mentioned especially from guys like Pauling and drch they get open in space they're on a slant pattern they can be able to to break some of those open so I'm really looking for that yards per attempt is something that I want to see uh so those are our three big things let's uh let me hide this here let's now get into our first first official score predictions of the year the Bucky report predictions all right we got a late kickoff Friday night 6 PM Pacific time which is my time 800 PM Central Time Justin the line is TW it was was 24 and a half it's now 23 so there's a lot of money obviously going on Western Michigan which is fine by me I like that kind of stuff give me a score prediction for the first game of the season yeah I I had this game at 42 to1 I think if Wisconsin wants to have the type of season that we're going that we want to see with growth that's the type this is the type of game you need to be dominant from start to finish I don't you know maybe a late touchdown where they get to that 10-point spot but I would like to see the team go out there and absolutely just handle their business and guys to look the part like this is going to be a talented team I think they're capable of that I think we do have a lot of Talent on this team in comparison to where we were last year It just fits better what we want to do and I think there's an opportunity for them to prove that in this game yeah I mean I'm I do think we're going to cover but I'm cautiously optimistic about that my final score is 3813 um I think they we kick a field goal along the way we're gonna give up a touchdown I I don't really see how we're not going to do that just because there might be an untimely turnover things like that um but I wouldn't surprise me at all if we only won this game by 20 and I know that a lot of badger fans including myself and you want to see us really blow these guys out but it is week one I think we need to keep that in perspective and know that a lot of these guys haven't played together yet and they only played against each other in scrimmages anytime you have a new quarterback regardless of how experienced your team is there's still that learning curve associated with it so I I'm okay look I I want it to be a convincing win most definitely and if it's a tight game in the fourth quarter I'm gonna be furious and we can't have oh I will too this is a game we need to put first half yeah I mean if we put up good points and we have a few hiccups along the way it's okay I think we're going to be able to see what this team can be depending on this performance but there's a lot of growth that's going to come from this either way uh but yeah I mean look I'm just excited that football's back we've been we've been doing this show weekly for since last year and and all summer it's like this grind of of when how many more days do we have into football season and we are now we're we're one day away I mean this is it so tomorrow is kickoff uh tomorrow night um Justin your overall looking at the season you said you we were going to be nine and three I said we eight and four is there anything else that you're just really excited to see for this first game um yeah I want to see I want to see the young guys get out there honestly well there's a lot of transfers that we're looking forward to too but I want to see the young backs get out there and play you know Dylan Jones I want to see Xavier Lucas get out there I want to see some of these the the 24 class to me there's a chance that it could go down as the best class that we've ever had and if that has opportunity for a lot of these young guys to be out there and play and part of the depth this year I'm not saying guys are going to take over starters but guys who can go out there and get some reps and start getting rolling for next year this is the a group that I think has an opportunity to do that and I would love to see it you know I'd love to see the second string offensive line get out there with a lot of these freshmen that it's it's not necessarily an opportunity I want them out there starting but if we can get into the the third quarter in late third quarter early fourth and see these guys out there you know getting some reps in and getting some film for themselves to grow from I think that'd be great for these guys yeah yeah I'm just excited to see live football man I can't really I just I just can't wait to see it because there's a lot of hype every time a season kicks off there's a lot of Hope a lot of hype a lot of excitement and the fact that we're it's finally here we get to actually talk about real games it's going to be great uh go check out lock on Badgers tomorrow night after the game Justin and I will both be on the reaction show with Ryan herrings and of course back here Sunday night on the Bucky report to break down everything we saw from the week and a quick look ahead to our second game uh seasons's back three big things check them us check us out every week midweek for our quick again take keys to the game and our predictions let's hope for a big Badger win with that I'm Wisconsin I'm [Music] Wisconsin thank you for listening if you enjoy the show subscribe to our YouTube channel at the Bucky report or the Bucky Report podcast from wherever you get your content until next time on Wisconsin [Music]