Tag: wisconsin offense

The case for OC Joe Rudolph to relinquish play-calling duties next season

Wisconsin Badgers football head coach Paul Chryst announced this year that offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph had taken play-calling duties

Earlier this season, Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst announced offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Joe Rudolph had been the team’s play-caller to that point and would continue to be throughout the season.

The news came as a surprise to many. Chryst had been the team’s play-caller for some time, including for the team’s impressive display of offense during the 2019 season.

Related: Final game grades, report card for Wisconsin vs. Wake Forest

With the 2020 season in the rear-view mirror after the Badgers’ 42-28 victory over Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, I’m here to make the case for Rudolph to relinquish play-calling duties next season.

First, a necessary disclaimer: The Wisconsin offense struggled this year in large part due to Graham Mertz’s inexperience and up-and-down play, injuries to key positions and really good defenses on the schedule.

They also struggled, however, due to some of what Rudolph was doing with the play sheet.

Related: Studs and duds from the Wisconsin Badgers’ 2020 football season

The unit opened the season with 45- and 49-point performances against Illinois and Michigan, respectively — two defenses that struggled all season.

The Badgers then endured a three-game stretch in which they scored 20 points — games where the offense had zero life. If you’re looking for patterns here, when the Badgers played a team with a real defense they were unable to find the end zone.

It would take years to go through every drive and talk about every set of play calls, so I’ve compiled a list of several to focus on when questioning Rudolph’s game plan and in-game play decisions.

No. 1: vs. Minnesota, third-and-7, first quarter, opponent’s 30-yard line.

The call? An outside zone to Julius Davis with Jack Dunn as the lead blocker.

First, this was Davis’ first collegiate carry and Garrett Groshek had been shredding the Gopher defense to that point.

Second, this is a rivalry game and the offense is churning…So why go directly away from what works?

The drive ended in a missed field goal and the Badgers came up empty.

Example No. 2: vs. Minnesota, tie game, 1:28 left in the game, Chase Wolf in at quarterback, 3 timeouts remaining, opponent’s 40-yard line.

The call? A deep ball to freshman WR Devin Chandler.

This, like the Davis run, ended the Badgers’ drive — this one obviously coming when the team was on its way to kicking a field goal and winning the football game.

Again, Groshek was unstoppable that night. But the call instead to have a third-string quarterback hoist the ball deep? Curious to say the least.

Then there’s the Wake Forest game.

I’m just going to look at this game as a whole — and also note the team scored 42 points thanks to the defense’s four interceptions, a blocked punt and a long kickoff return.

So, during the win against Wake Forest we saw:

  • Two consecutive shovel passes in the red zone when the team has an NFL-caliber tight end that is unguardable in those situations (shovel passes that led Groshek to where every defender was playing)
  • Chase Wolf enter the contest for a drive to end the half and the offense try to throw it deep

  • third-and-9 run outside zone calls to Groshek near midfield when the Badgers needed to put points on the board
  • An overall lack of effectiveness when the team had a long field ahead of it (against one of the worst defense’s the team faced this season)

Focusing on the Wolf throw for a second; Mertz was benched in favor of Wolf to lead a 2-minute drive.

I can’t decide what’s worse here: Whether Rudolph and the offensive staff didn’t have Mertz prepared to lead an end-of-half drive (due to him needing to run over and get the play calls from the sideline), or whether he genuinely believed Wolf gave the team a better chance to score points there.

It was the last of numerous head-scratchers this season that included not nearly enough carries by Jalen Berger, a lack of creativity in the red zone and stale route concepts when the Badgers need conversions.

Rudolph is one of, if not the, best offensive line coaches in the country. Don’t get me wrong: he’s one of the most important members of the Badger coaching staff.

But play-calling is not close to his strong suit. It should 100 percent be Paul Chryst calling plays for the team in 2021.

What is actually going to fix the Wisconsin Badger offense?

With a 6-point effort in Saturday’s loss to Indiana, the Wisconsin Badgers now have scored a total of 13 points in their last two games…

With a 6-point effort in Saturday’s loss to Indiana, the Wisconsin Badgers have now scored a total of 13 points in their last two games, that obviously coming after 45 and 49-point efforts to start the season.

There’s been talk online and in the Badger sporting world that running more jet sweeps, including creativity and handing the ball off more to Jalen Berger will be the things to lead the unit back to their early-season form.

While those factors may help, the notion that the lack of jet sweeps and touches by backs not named Berger have been the things holding this offense back is completely false.

Related: Five keys to a Wisconsin victory over Iowa on Saturday

Here’s why (which will also answer the question at hand of what truly will fix the Badger offense).

Last year we saw Jack Coan, Jonathan Taylor and the offense find consistent success all season. A part of that success was more than 450 rushing yards by wide receivers–180 of which coming from Kendric Pryor alone. What those plays did back then was take pressure off Taylor in the run game and help to spread the defense.

When you have somebody like Jonathan Taylor in the backfield those plays are able to work and the offense doesn’t normally struggle to move the football. With JT gone to the NFL, this year and the future of the offense is completely different.

While true freshman Jalen Berger is clearly the best back the team has and should be receiving more touches, he is not the single catalyst of the offense like Taylor was for three years. The catalyst of the offense also won’t be “creative” plays or jet sweeps and screens.

Right now (and all season) the catalyst has been the play of Graham Mertz at quarterback.

Maybe when Berger develops and becomes an upperclassman he can have a Taylor-like effect.

But if you’re looking for something to change in order for the offense to return to their early-season success and start connecting on big plays again the answer can be found in the play of the man under center.

In his first two starts: 32/43 passing, 375 yards, 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

In his second two starts: 43/75 passing, 432 yards, 1 touchdown, 4 interceptions and 2 fumbles.

It must be said that both Indiana and Northwestern have stellar defenses and the same can’t be said for Illinois and Michigan.

But, as I outlined earlier this week, Mertz has struggled with timing, decision-making and ball placement recently and, as a result, the offense has failed to put many points on the board.

He is a redshirt freshman and has plenty of time to mature and develop as a passer–which I believe he will do. This is just purely an analysis of the main factor that has led to the team only scoring 13 points in two games.

Again, Berger touching the ball more and improved play calling are part of the story. But those two things alone aren’t going to help this offense score more points.

Mertz will need to play better. It’s that simple.

How Wisconsin’s offense will find success against Illinois

Here is how the Badger offense will find success on Friday

Illinois head coach Lovie Smith has been preaching takeaways since his time in Tampa Bay as the linebackers coach under Tony Dungy. The Tampa-2 defense that Smith has used for the past two decades gave Wisconsin problems last year in their 24-23 loss in Champaign, so how can the Badgers bounce back from an upset and have a convincing week one performance on offense?

It all starts with taking care of the football. Smith and Illinois put their defensive emphasis on stripping the football and forcing fumbles, and it led to three Wisconsin turnovers last season in this matchup. The young, talented RB tandem of sophomores Nakia Watson and Isaac Guerendo will have to value the football above all else.

Garrett Groshek, the senior leader in the RB room, mentioned earlier this week that ball security was a point of emphasis for the Badgers. “If we are able to hold on to the ball that game probably has a different outcome,” said Groshek when referring to last year’s loss in Champaign.

While averaging 233 yards rushing as they did in 2019 is a tall task for a Badger unit that loses Jonathan Taylor, running the ball effectively against the 4-3 defense of Illinois will set the tone.

Through the air, getting Graham Mertz comfortable early will be essential in his first collegiate start. The offensive line has to do its job against a front four for Illinois that needs to get to the QB to make the Tampa-2 go. The weakness to exploit for Mertz and the Badgers is taking advantage of the middle of the field. The Tampa-2 puts stress on the middle linebacker, who is forced to make a read and drop back in coverage on passing downs in order to take away routes over the middle of the field. Quick slants and crossing routes are not only effective ways for Mertz to find his footing early, but also a way to test the Mike linebacker.

One thing that separated Wisconsin QB Jack Coan from many others in the country was his ability to take care of the ball. Just five interceptions all year from the UW signal caller helped lead the Badgers into the Big Ten championship game. A young Mertz will surely make some early mistakes, but hopefully they do not result in costly turnovers on Friday.

Another key offensively is to see who steps forward at the WR position on Friday. A position with more questions than answers at this point does have capable guys in seniors Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor, along with young talents in Chimere Dike and Taj Mustapha. The question of who becomes the favorite target of Mertz is one that could have many different answers.

Bottom Line: If Wisconsin takes care of the football on Friday and can attack over the middle in the passing game, expect a one in the win column.

How Wisconsin’s offense will find success against Illinois

Here is how the Badger offense will find success on Friday

Illinois head coach Lovie Smith has been preaching takeaways since his time in Tampa Bay as the linebackers coach under Tony Dungy. The Tampa-2 defense that Smith has used for the past two decades gave Wisconsin problems last year in their 24-23 loss in Champaign, so how can the Badgers bounce back from an upset and have a convincing week one performance on offense?

It all starts with taking care of the football. Smith and Illinois put their defensive emphasis on stripping the football and forcing fumbles, and it led to three Wisconsin turnovers last season in this matchup. The young, talented RB tandem of sophomores Nakia Watson and Isaac Guerendo will have to value the football above all else.

Garrett Groshek, the senior leader in the RB room, mentioned earlier this week that ball security was a point of emphasis for the Badgers. “If we are able to hold on to the ball that game probably has a different outcome,” said Groshek when referring to last year’s loss in Champaign.

While averaging 233 yards rushing as they did in 2019 is a tall task for a Badger unit that loses Jonathan Taylor, running the ball effectively against the 4-3 defense of Illinois will set the tone.

Through the air, getting Graham Mertz comfortable early will be essential in his first collegiate start. The offensive line has to do its job against a front four for Illinois that needs to get to the QB to make the Tampa-2 go. The weakness to exploit for Mertz and the Badgers is taking advantage of the middle of the field. The Tampa-2 puts stress on the middle linebacker, who is forced to make a read and drop back in coverage on passing downs in order to take away routes over the middle of the field. Quick slants and crossing routes are not only effective ways for Mertz to find his footing early, but also a way to test the Mike linebacker.

One thing that separated Wisconsin QB Jack Coan from many others in the country was his ability to take care of the ball. Just five interceptions all year from the UW signal caller helped lead the Badgers into the Big Ten championship game. A young Mertz will surely make some early mistakes, but hopefully they do not result in costly turnovers on Friday.

Another key offensively is to see who steps forward at the WR position on Friday. A position with more questions than answers at this point does have capable guys in seniors Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor, along with young talents in Chimere Dike and Taj Mustapha. The question of who becomes the favorite target of Mertz is one that could have many different answers.

Bottom Line: If Wisconsin takes care of the football on Friday and can attack over the middle in the passing game, expect a one in the win column.