Wisconsin Badgers football preview against the Western Michigan Broncos! Luke Fickell year two!

it's college football season week one we're doing our preview who is Western Michigan why they might be a little bit scary but honestly football is here and just like Johnny 5 I feel alive let's go let's talk about it you are locked on Badgers your daily podcast on the Wisconsin Badgers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every every day we made it we made it football here this is the official week one preview Western Michigan today's episode is brought to you by 5 Hour Energy with zero sugar and a convenient portable size it's the perfect for getting stuff done go to 5our energy.com use promo code lockon CFB to receive 20% off your order this offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with another go to 5our energy.com today all right I am Ryan herrings is lock on Badgers part of the lock podcast Network thank you so much for tuning in as always and let's talk Western Michigan let's get into it specifically talk about their personnel how did the Badgers match up keys to the game my game prediction it is game week it is game day basically in like an hour and a half if you're in central time all right let's start with Western Michigan okay Max School 4 and8 last year let's break it down who they are uh coach Lance Taylor in his second year as the head coach of Western Michigan I think it always we always got got to talk about the quarterback right who are the Badgers facing at quarterback who is he what skill set does he have which Badger quarterback would I comp him to it is uh Hayden wolf with like two FS so like Hayden wolf right six foot five about 210 pounds he is a 50y year senior so there experience there uh spent three years at Old Dominion transferred Up played about half the year last year played eight games um he did okay he throws too many picks about 60% career completion percentage 38 to 21 touchdown interception ratio so he's at about a 2 to1 touchdown interception ratio not great and especially not great for a guy who doesn't complete a large percentage his passes career rushing yardage is negative 165 so to me if you're if you're looking at who Hayden wolf is as a quarterback think like lower tier Joel Stave right if you're looking for a badger comp basically a big pocket quarterback without a lot of Mobility um has some questionable decision- making so that's who he is that's who's facing the Badgers and Hayden wolf um couple interesting things on their offensive side there is some stuff here that if you're a badger fan could cause Wisconsin a few issues this is potentially for especially for a Mac team a really good running team okay what have we talked about with the Badgers um iy defensive line it's a potenti potentially ify defense line we don't know but this is definitely an area where if you if you're going into this season one of the things you're worried about if you're a Wisconsin Badger fan is the rush defense it's the ability to hold up in the trenches this is a Max School who's coming in with four returning starters on the offensive line um the fifth guy is a transfer from Notre Dame for Max school this is a really good vetran experienced offensive line their Center who is named um I got it right here I apologize uh I lost the name uh Jacob Gideon their Center Jacob Gideon is is one of the better centers in in college football definitely one of the better centers in um the non-power four conferences NFL draft mock says a player to watch from the group of six is Jacob Gideon named First Team all m season really good movement skills the ability to angle and push people off the line of scrimmage they also have a really good guard so there's two really good offensive linemen there and a returning group of of five that have played or four that have played and then have transfer from Notre Dame uh running back last year with Jaylen Buckley ran for a thousand yards 5.3 per carry I was watching film on him you know he's an interesting back this is a a north south Runner uh pretty well built gets between the tackles puts his shoulders down he's pretty decisive not a running back in Jaylen Buckley that's going to make a lot of people Miss but he's going to hit the hole hard and get what he can get and then he has a little bit of speed when he if he does break out the back end so you're talking about an offensive line that's pretty veteran um two really good linemen in the center and the guard and then a returning running back who is a you know ran for a thousand yards and five yards per carry last year so they have a rushing attack that can come in and potentially do some damage um if if the Batters aren't ready to step up for that on the receiving end they have three veteran receivers coming back so again two I had two different people this was interesting thing to me one who I was going back and forth with he used to cover Western Michigan for Rivals and he said you know this is going to be a potentially explosive offense for Western Michigan keep in mind last year's Western Michigan team that was uh head coach um Taylor's first year there this is the second year with the system they brought in Indiana's old offensive coordinator they think with the this Trio of receivers they have the the really veteran and and pretty good offensive line and Buckley at running back there's there's actually quite a bit of hope that this is on their end a pretty good Mac offense and the word I've heard two different people use which makes me think they're probably finding the same Source somewhere is explosive potentially explosive Western Michigan offense so three pretty good receivers Uchi had five uh touchdowns last year 15 yards per carry they're also bringing in a slot receiver former I think Florida State commit um Devon Mortimer Jr they call him bugs and they call him bugs for good reasons he he's a 4-3 guy averaged 19 yards per carry or per catch at University of Louisiana Monroe last year so they got some weapons on the outside they have a really good again really good Mac running back and a really good offensive line for a Mac level team you can see if the quarterback has time it goes back to Hayden wolf if he has time if he can orchestrate what he wants to do is complete passes in the intermediate he wants to be kind of the point guard if he can do that this is a Mac team that's going to move the ball this year a little bit so interesting right if again if you're looking at through the lens of being a baderan what have we what have we been concerned about we been concerned about that Rush defense we've been a little concerned about about um being able to hold up against an offensive line it'd be a good this a good test early in the year in in a test that you should win but a good one nonetheless on defense this is where Western Michigan starts to have a few more issues uh they replacing a lot on the defensive line they are replacing a lot on the defensive line um and I don't know if they really found the replacements for it the linebacking core is pretty good veteran a couple guys coming back with over 100 tackles each so good linebacker core pretty good secondary without a lot of depth they weren't able to really add to that depth in the off season defense line as I said questionable linebacker core is pretty veteran pretty good and then the secondary solid it's a good tackling secondary with good tackling safeties but not a lot of depth so the strength of this team to me when you look at Western Michigan when you when you talk to people who cover this team the strength of Western Michigan is offense it's a dynamic pretty Dynamic group of Playmakers on the outside a really veteran solid group of offense line with maybe probably the best player on the team in the sent and one of the best players in the guard and then a returning running back that's that's really talented over a thousand yards and again you watch him on film he looks like a guy who if if you don't stay Stout in the line of scrimmage is GNA rip off six seven eight yard chunks right he's not a game breaker but he's the type of guy who's can consistently push the ball down the field so if you're a badger fan you got to be aware of that all right we're going to take a quick break that's kind of the scouting report on Western Michigan I'm going to talk about keys to the game what do I want to see Wisconsin specifically do offensively specifically do defensively against Western Michigan and then we're going to finish off with predictions and just some big picture Thoughts with the season here really excited to have everybody here um today's episode is brought to you we're going to take a quick break today's episode is brought to you by our good friends over at factor factor is the ultimate spot right if if you need I need it like I listen I've been doing really good with my meals but now that college football's here I need to eat a little healthier I need a a sidekick in my my health Journey 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eBay guaranteed fit is only available to us customers eligible only exclusions to apply eBay guaranteed fit is only available to us customers again this is the fastest easiest simplest cheapest way to buy Auto Parts why would you do it anyway else why and not during college football like you can't afford to leave the house now there's games on and if there's not games on there's highlights on if there's not highlights on you're setting up your fantasy football teams if you're not doing that you're in our Discord talking Badgers you don't have time to go to the Car Part Store anymore go to ebaymotors.com all right let's get back into this talk let's talk uh Badger keys to the game what do we need to see offense and defense uh really excited again we're here we've made it to week one we've survived the desert um let's talk about it okay offensively keys to the game let me see what and I'm curious what everybody thinks here um keys to the game on offense I I think I might be a little I was thinking about this more and again put in the comments let me know what your keys of the game are the players you think we need to key on I might might be a little counterintuitive here but I've been thinking about it and I think they just need to lean on the run and it's not that I don't want us to go full Cris mode like I don't want full Cris mode where we're never throwing unless it's third or eight that's not what I'm saying but Phil Longo has talked a lot about we're going to utilize what works we're going to lean into our strengths he's had a North Carolina offense that had 2,000 yard rushers right um like you have to lean into who you are and I think for this team to be successful this year the culture of this offense the identity of this offense is going to be run first and then use the run to set up play action deep passes play action intermediate suck the linebackers up you know get tretch behind those linebackers get paing behind those linebackers use play action get the safeties up or Force another linebacker onto the field and then you have one-on-one on the edge with Vinnie or or or um Vinnie or CJ Williams or Bryson Green I think that's the strength of this team I really do and I think it also allows C vanz to utilize kind of his big arm in play action situations to make the reads potentially a little bit easier so it's not that I want to go out there and run the ball 45 times and throw it 10 but I think in this game I as boring as it might be for some people who still want to see like air rate Unleashed I want to see a heavy dose of chz I want to see a heavy dose of maloi I want to see that inverted wishbone look we were seeing in practice which is the three running backs you know two running backs flanking the quarterback and one behind them let's see Jackson acre lead the way on some power plays out of that let's see the running backs slip out some screen action out of those let's see let's see the physicality with this offens line that we've been talking about for a dog on year right let's see that group Maul a western Michigan defense align that quite frankly isn't very good wasn't very good last year and they got worse they lost an NFL guy to the draft in the second round this Western Michigan defense line is the weakness of their team you you read scouting reports you talk to people who cover it it is a huge question mark and we're lining up against that with a incredibly veteran offensive line and maybe the deepest running back room we we've seen at Wisconsin in years I think you got to Maul them I think you have to establish culture right away this is who we are this year we are going to be a capable passing game but we are going to be able to run the ball when we run when we run run the ball and I think that sets everything up I think you do that you get one ones on the outside which is going to be tailor made for Van djk then you're going to be able to use trch and and uh Pauling like scal uh like scales like just carving up the interior defense behind those linebackers that are sucked up in the play action so that's my number one thing on offense I want to see you establish the line of scrimmage I want to see Wisconsin and and Longo be disciplined like and I I speak to Longo as much as the offense on that be disciplined in what's working don't get too queued in week one right like I'm not We're not gonna lose to Western Michigan that's not what I'm saying but like don't get too queued if you're able to consistently run the ball rip off rip off chunks on the ground and then use play action like I don't want to see two drives where we're really pushing the ball down field we're running the ball they we're dominating the line of scrimmage we're mixing in play action and then we come out on and we throw three passes that are incomplete and we have the field if you're in a dominant Rhythm running the ball just keep running the ball mixing the passing game that's what I want to see I think that's the key to what this team is GNA have to be this year because I think that is the strength of the team I think it's the mauling offensive line in the Deep running back room I still think our receivers while getting better and having really nice depth in the SL I still think they're not where they need to be if we're to for us to be like a pass first team right so that's my first key run the ball run the ball my second one discipline and I talked about for long ago but discipline with with receptions discipline with penalties discipline with it is week one this is something regie pushed back on me a little bit and I understand his point like you can't be perfectly clean in week one but like there's this is two veteran of a team and now year or two of the coaching staff like the simple mistakes kind of have to be phased out and when I say simple mistakes it's it's veteran receivers that if the ball's H you in hands you got to catch it right it's veteran tackles that last year we saw just jumping off sides not knowing snap counts being on the wrong page like those are things that if you're seeing those week one right uh that's that's a little sketchy to me so offensively run the ball be disciplined in who you are which is catching the ball no stupid penalties no ons sportsmanlike penalties getting the getting the calls in on time so we're not taking a delay a game or we're not having to take a a a weird timeout even if it's 31 to1 you don't want to have to take a timeout if you don't want to right that's a sign of execution not being crisp enough and those things shouldn't happen right now they they really shouldn't happen at that level now listen there is going to be some stuff miscommunication in on an option route between Tyler van djk and TR kekuna who didn't play last year and Tyler van djk first year quarterback in the system I'm completely cool with that in week one week two whatever like those are going to happen I what I'm saying is these simple things that you would be upset with if you were a high school coach and your high school senior dropped up a wide open pass like we were doing last year those things can't happen week one so make the plays you're supposed to make as a better senior Laden team and then run the fraking ball uh the last thing I would say is I want to see a composed Tyler Van Dyke what is that mean it means any opportunities that he have that he has whatever those are whatever Phil Longo wants to give him which are going to be plenty again when I say establish the run I I'm not talking we're going to be Army right or or like 1994 Nebraska like V's gonna throw it 20 plus times in those opportunities I don't want to see you you throwing the ball into double coverage if you don't have to I want to see you be smart with the legs don't take any silly hits right when if the play's not there tuck it and get eight yards and get out of bounds I want to see a uh basically a 50y or senior quarterback right I want to see a leader of the offense I want to see a guy who understands the bigger picture because if you struggle in some of those moments in a game against Western Michigan good luck against Bama and and and what's coming down the pike so I think it's the running game the consistency the discipline and then what do we finally see from Tyler van DJ and his first action with real bullets all right let's shift defensively what do what do you want to see what do I want to see and again um we're gonna take one break after this and get into all your comments again be excited man it's we're here we made it um we made it together and I absolutely it's it's awesome defensively the the big key for me is you got to get Hoff or wolf W sorry wolf with two FS their quarterback you got to get him off his spots this is an immobile quarterback who has a tendency to throw picks and is not overly accurate what do you got to do to those guys you got to hit them you got to get pressure right you gotta collapse the pocket you got to make them uncomfortable you do that and there's not going to be I I'll just say it if you do that all there's not going to be an offense for Western Michigan they are they're not going to be able to move the ball consistently if they can't protect their quarterback because their quarterback can't create on his own it's just not who he is again think low tier Joel Stave that that's basically who they're lining up at quarterback and ler Joe Stave are even and maybe that's too maybe that's I maybe I shouldn't say just think think a version of Joe Stave I don't want to be like overly critical of him think a version of jool stab that jool stab could hurt you if you gave him time and this quarterback was some of the weapons he has I think could do the same to some degree so you got to get him off the pocket you got to hit him you got to get pass rush again this is not a bad offensive line for Western Michigan so it's a good challenge for us to start with for Wisconsin to start with so that's my first key obvious passing situations you don't want to see him back there with three and a half seconds where he can set his feet he can scan the field he's a six foot5 guy he's got a pretty good armed um you got to hit them gotta move them and then the second one I think is the obvious one I tied into what I I mentioned with the the offensive preview for Western Michigan they're going to want to run the ball they have a really good running back and a veteran offensive line and kind of quarterback so you have to establish the LED scrimmage defensively you have to just stone wall it right and this is one of it's this isn't if you if you win this test in week one it doesn't mean your Rush defense is going to be great because it's against Western Michigan but if you fail this test week one if if Western Michigan is able to even if it's a game that we end up winning comfortably if they're able to consistently get four yards on first down if they're able to if Buckley's able to consistently get four five six yards if we consistently have to bring linebackers up to help stop the run if we have to leave a safety in the Box for whatever reason that's a really bad Harbinger for the rest of the year I want to see the defensive line those outside linebackers I want to see that front group control the line of scrimmage without Trestle having to make adjustments right and I think I think if you do that then you put them in a passing situation and then you force wolf to be the guy to carry the offense I don't think he's that guy then you start hitting him I think those things happen and this game runs away from Western Michigan really quickly and Wisconsin pulls way out ahead but I'm interested seriously legit I am interested in this Rush defense against that Rush offense it's it's a really interesting early season lits test to see how we me what progress we made again this was a a rush defense that gave up 3.9 yards per carry last season against the schedule that was horrific so can they get it to like two and a half this this game that that would be goal my goal would be to keep it under three right to keep Buckley under three yards at carry if I think if you do that that's a really good first step for the season all right we're going to take one more quick break get back to your comments game predictions what score do you think it is who are you keying on am I wrong in in what I'm keying on or or what my projections and prediction predictions are let me know first a quick break for our friends of the show over at 5 Hour Energy and a quick second as always to say honestly just thank you for for tuning in with us for being there with us uh we'll come back with game predictions next unlock on Badgers but first a quick break poor friends over at 5 Hour Energy I talked about them I have many things on the to-do list um I got to build offices for us in the the barn or the garage so I can finally stop uh doing this podcast in the in the basement like I'm living in my mom's house or something you know sometimes you hear my kids running around upstairs I got Five Hour Energy to help me get through that to-do list I've got windows I got to hang doors I got to hang and then I got to design my new office so I'm open to ideas for that by the way if anybody has ideas on what would be like a real cool backdrop for a bacher's podcast hit me up let me know um I'll use my 5 Hour Energy to get that done too over at 5 Hour Energy there small sugar-free which is super important they have great flavors I talked about I had the watermelon the other day which was really good um as I have mentioned I did try a watermelon diet once in my life I went a couple days just eating watermelon which was interesting this you know I was pretty wired up um I don't have to do that anymore because I can just get my watermelon through 5 Hour Energy go to 5our energy.com use our code locked on CFB to receive 20% off your order build your 12 pack or your 24 pack you can't combine it with other promotional offers you can't do it with subscriptions but it is a great way to get a excellent deal on a little energy to help you get through your DIY list over at 5our energy.com promo code lockon CFB okay let's talk game predictions I want to see your comments let's see what you guys got here uh bo why do you why are you so down on chz chz Bose says he'll probably get 150 but 70 of it will be on one run like can I just say this too because I've heard this argument from other places like every running back great running back rips off long runs you don't take every great running backs long run away from them and say well what would their yards per carry be without that I don't know why people hold chz to a different standard with that and Bo if I'm if I'm missing your point on that let me know but I I don't know I like chz I think chz is in line for a pretty good year I'm just really impressed with what I saw from tawe which is why I think tywi is probably going to be the Bellow and they're going to use chz more on the passing game Ryan Wy says Western Michigan 14 Wisconsin 45 let's go Ryan strong Name by the way JP says live fourth quarter Minnesota losing viewing party man I'm here for anything Minnesota losing I don't know if everyone has heard this story and I don't want to Sidetrack this too much but my youngest son well my oldest son when he was younger I was teaching him I gave him this was this USA map and I took out because I thought it's really I think maps are important right they they lead to creativity you see the world but so I gave him this us map in Puzzles he put it together and I took the Minnesota piece out without him knowing so I gave him this puzzle he put it together he's like Dad there's no there's no piece here we I'm said no that's that's actually how America is he was like three at the time I said that's where the I think I said the hellfires hit I'm like yeah that that part of the the country is just like a burning crap hole um that's actually how it is and this is what the map looks like so for years he grew up thinking that the state of Minnesota actually didn't exist anymore and it was just like this tire fire literally eventually my my wife made me change so he wouldn't go to school thinking that um Mark D says feed chz I'm telling you like first of all like chz has been a consistently good back he just hasn't been no stay healthy and this is an offense that fits him better I think he was starting to look more Dynamic last year you go back to the Purdue game I think they're gonna give him a lot of reps this year I really do and I think they trust him again we the thing I'll say is most Badger fans seem to really trust this coaching staff not all and I don't want to pay with a super broad brush but most seem to really trust this coaching staff right you trust fickle trust Longo well who do they have as a starter they have chz so if you trust them why are you not trusting them with the running back depth chart I'm telling you they really like chess is my point on that um let's keep going here Mark D says what happens if the passing game doesn't work tomorrow we get worried because this isn't a great passing defense for Western Michigan they don't have depth I think you you use four receivers quite a bit you spread them out because they're depth isn't great so you get some some guys on the western Michigan defense on the field that they don't want out there and if you can't exploit that then it's going to be a long year I think it's as simple as that I'm not going to sugarcoat it if you come out and you can't get open receivers if van dijk doesn't look good if the pass Pro isn't there any one of the above like if you're struggling in those aspects against Western Michigan I mean Alabama is Gonna Eat You Alive right Oregon Iowa th those schools are going to mate you if you can't pass effectively against Western Michigan so yeah B says if you can't pass against scrubs fire fickle I'm not saying that but he the first part of that I think he's totally right if you can't pass against Western Michigan it's gonna be it's GNA be an iffy season Tim says he's a marginal running back at best not near starter quality I disagree I think chz is a starting caliber starting caliber running back I don't think he's an elite starting caliber running back but I do think he is a starting caliber running back JP says I actually disagree about running the ball just because we think it'll be easy against a team you'll beat anyway work on your weakness and pass a bunch so listen that's a really good point and I'm glad JP brought it up because I think that was an issue in a lot of Chris years is we there were moments we should have been working on our passing game and we just didn't and then when we needed it we didn't have it in our back pocket I think the difference with this team and this year is I I I think this team is going to have to rely on the Run game and you have to work on that as well that's not just something that you snap your fingers in have so I think that's a part of it is I want to see us work and establish what is going to be what I think is our culture this year on offense is going to be more of a run power team that's going to play off of that for the passing game but the other thing is when I say established to run like Longo's still gonna throw it 20 times Longo's still gonna pitch it around because that is part of what he does and he's very good at counter punching that's been a lot of his coaching career and if we just keep running the ball if we establish that Western Michigan will commit to stop it and whereas Chris would almost just double down on we're going to run it anyway you put eight in the Box we'll get nine blockers if Western Michigan starts creeping a safety up Longo will just then he will pivot to the pass game so I I I definitely hear your point on that JP but I want to see us establish running game I actually want to see it work I want to see us dominate the line of scrimmage and then I want to see us play off that because I think that's how we're gonna have to win games this year and I want to start perfecting the way I think we have to play to win but that's just my opinion I could be wrong 100% I I could absolutely be wrong let's see um definitely no injuries Kujo as long as no injuries happen that's a huge one for sure uh let's what do you got for what do you guys got for score uh scores I I have 3813 I think the line of game is 24 and a half so I have a just covering although I think that line has gone down recently but I think it's a 3813 game um somewhere in that range if if it goes off off kilter for that because I've seen a lot of people predict like 45 13 3813 I will say there's another game script in my opinion where this thing starts kind of slowly because Western Michigan is actually running the ball a little bit because we're establishing the maybe there's some first week one Jitters which which can happen we've seen some weird stuff already in week zero and week one in college football so I could see like a a much lower scoring game where our defense plays really really well both team they just kind of try to run the ball the clock goes quick and it's like a 30 to six game I could see that 27 to6 I could see a game script like that as well 27 to1 somewhere in there where it's never in doubt but it doesn't feel quite as dominant as we would hope it to be aest says 2713 that would be that kind of game script Bose says Badgers run for a million yards Wisconsin 57 Western Michigan 17 I like that uh coach Mack good dude by the way says fire Fick Nah Get rid of Longo if they can't move the ball through the air yeah and that that would be the like fick's not going anywhere man Vic is absolutely not going anywhere um but yeah I will say this and I'm not I'm not saying it's gonna happen but I will say this the the fire will get turned up on Long a little bit if this offense struggles for a second year and I I don't know what would happen at the the end of the year I'm not saying he'd be on the hot seat but he would be on the hot seat um coach Mack can we get the referees from the Colorado game to help our receivers tomorrow yeah those those refs were rough those announcers were rough too okay let's let's wrap it there again game tomorrow I I love it I'm excited for it there will be a recap show right after join us live let's talk about it uh I mentioned this on the basketball show we just did but send me after the right after the game send me a quick video clip of your reaction to the game how you're feeling player the game whatever it is like 30 seconds send it to me we're going to compile them we're going to play them uh we're going to have fun with that it's going to be kind of the community reaction show so send that to me on Twitter email ryin herrings gmail.com um however you want to do that and then we'll celebrate or we'll mourn together but I think it's going to be a celebration tomorrow on Wisconsin appreciate the absolute heck out of every single one of you for for being here on the show for supporting the channel for being part of this amazing Community um I can't tell you how much I appreciate it so thank you for that on Wisconsin let's get the dub tomorrow and then let's let's jump on the show let's talk about it afterwards let's go