I see this one getting real ugly. Wisky was a joke lastyear, and I look for a real big attitude adjustment from these clowns. After whipping Wazzo in the opener, they came back with close games against weaklings UNLV, 1-AA The Citadel, and Iowa. they really didn't have an impressive win lastyear, and were destroyed at Penn St. and OSU. There is not one position match-up in this game that is close. Wisconsin is the dominant team by a big stretch. If Everidge, or whoever can play solid at QB, Wisky can name the score. I think Bielema wants that score to be high. Wisky fans were spoiled by Alvarez, and have this crazy opinion of themselves as a football power. Bielema can't let that slip away. Everybody can see the Big 11 is two years away from being strong again, and it won't be in Mr. B's financial interest to not be a part of it. I show Wisky with a 67.85% chance of covering this spread.
I see this one getting real ugly. Wisky was a joke lastyear, and I look for a real big attitude adjustment from these clowns. After whipping Wazzo in the opener, they came back with close games against weaklings UNLV, 1-AA The Citadel, and Iowa. they really didn't have an impressive win lastyear, and were destroyed at Penn St. and OSU. There is not one position match-up in this game that is close. Wisconsin is the dominant team by a big stretch. If Everidge, or whoever can play solid at QB, Wisky can name the score. I think Bielema wants that score to be high. Wisky fans were spoiled by Alvarez, and have this crazy opinion of themselves as a football power. Bielema can't let that slip away. Everybody can see the Big 11 is two years away from being strong again, and it won't be in Mr. B's financial interest to not be a part of it. I show Wisky with a 67.85% chance of covering this spread.
I see this one getting real ugly. Wisky was a joke lastyear, and I look for a real big attitude adjustment from these clowns. After whipping Wazzo in the opener, they came back with close games against weaklings UNLV, 1-AA The Citadel, and Iowa. they really didn't have an impressive win lastyear, and were destroyed at Penn St. and OSU. There is not one position match-up in this game that is close. Wisconsin is the dominant team by a big stretch. If Everidge, or whoever can play solid at QB, Wisky can name the score. I think Bielema wants that score to be high. Wisky fans were spoiled by Alvarez, and have this crazy opinion of themselves as a football power. Bielema can't let that slip away. Everybody can see the Big 11 is two years away from being strong again, and it won't be in Mr. B's financial interest to not be a part of it. I show Wisky with a 67.85% chance of covering this spread.
agreed. Wisconsin will beat them by at least 38 points.
I see this one getting real ugly. Wisky was a joke lastyear, and I look for a real big attitude adjustment from these clowns. After whipping Wazzo in the opener, they came back with close games against weaklings UNLV, 1-AA The Citadel, and Iowa. they really didn't have an impressive win lastyear, and were destroyed at Penn St. and OSU. There is not one position match-up in this game that is close. Wisconsin is the dominant team by a big stretch. If Everidge, or whoever can play solid at QB, Wisky can name the score. I think Bielema wants that score to be high. Wisky fans were spoiled by Alvarez, and have this crazy opinion of themselves as a football power. Bielema can't let that slip away. Everybody can see the Big 11 is two years away from being strong again, and it won't be in Mr. B's financial interest to not be a part of it. I show Wisky with a 67.85% chance of covering this spread.
agreed. Wisconsin will beat them by at least 38 points.
@Ohio St. (+29): L, 2-20 - It should be noted that Akron was +4 in the TO department. They also had 3 yards on 19 carries.
@Indiana (+13): L, 24-41 - Indiana ran for 338 yards on 49 carries.
@UConn (+15.5): L, 10-44 - UConn ran for 262 on 42 carries.
Wisconsin against MAC foes:
Northern Illinois (-23.5): W, 44-3 - Wisconsin ran 55 times for 331 yards. Northern Illy ran 18 times for -13 yards.
The Game
I really expect much of the same from the above results from last year. I am pretty convinced that Akron may not score in this game. I am also convinved that they are the worst team in the MAC this season.
Akron had the ride their above-average MAC defense last season just to survive. It garnered them a 4-8 record, which could have easily been 3-9 without the miracle against Western Michigan. This year, almost all of the big names depart form the defense, and they are left with a deluge of newcomers and their depth is full of young, inexperienced kids gearing up for their first game.
This shouldn't be a tough situational spot for either team, as Akron follows this with a game @Syracuse while Wisconsin gets Marshall in week 2.
Akron Offense vs. Wisconsin D
Akron returns 8 to their offense. Wisconsin returns 9 to their defense.
Akron offense LY: PPG: 21.2 Rush yards per game: 128 (3.5 ypc) Pass yard per game: 184 (53.7% passing)
Wisconsin defense LY: PPG: 23.2 Rush yards allowed per game: 134 (4.1 ypc) Pass yards allowed per game: 223 (55.3%)
I'll start on the Akron offensive line, which I consider to be the strength of the team. Four starters are back, including two sophs (Mike Ward, Corey Woods) that were thrown into the fire last year and should be ready to go this season. Chris Kemme anchors the line at LT, as he secured 2nd Team MAC each of the last two years.
There is a problem, however. There is no help at QB. Or RB. Or WR. Or on the bench. Or anywhere else on campus (presumably).
QB Chris Jacquemain is the definition of mediocrity. He sort of won the QB over Carlton Jackson last year, which basically meant he could get Jabari Arthur the ball on a semi-consistent basis. Jacquemain finished last year with a ho-hum 11-10 ratio long with 1623 yards (56% comp pct).
There's another thing. WR Jabari Arthur is gone. How good was Arthur? He was basically the entire offense. Last year, he had 1171 of the team's 2206 receiving yards (53.1% of the yards). He had 86 of the 201 receptions (42.8% of the team's receptions). He also had 10 of the 15 passing TDs.
Last year's leading rusher was Bryan Williams (728 yards, 4.8 ypc). He was also the team's 2nd leading receiver with 204 yards on 22 catches. He is now, according to Steele, listed as the starting strong safety in an attempt to salvage a secondary that lost everyone.
Now the RB duties are left to Andrew Johnson, a former big time recruit that has been hampered by injuries for his entire career (most recently, an ACL). He could be effective, but it will most likely take him a couple of game to get back into the flow of things. Dennis Johnson should help out as well, but he wasn't effective last year after a solid 2006 season.
At WR, they are left with a slew of guys that caught 10-20 passes last year. According to Steele, they are also moving Andre Jones (last year's starting FS and leading returning tackler with 79) to WR to help out at that spot.
Wisconsin should be able to manhandle this offense. They retrun 8 of their top 9 tacklers.
Wisky's DL is probably pedestrian by Big 10 standards, but they should be able to handle a MAC OL. Even if they struggle a bit, you can bet that Wisky's LB core will be near the line considering that Akron has no proven QB or WR threat.
Wisconsin's returning LB trio of Casillas, Hodge, and Levy were the top three tacklers last year and combined for 233 tackles.
The secondary returns three of four, including Shane Carter who had 7 INTs last year to lead the big Ten.
Nine starters on the Wisconsin D are either Juniors or Seniors.
@Ohio St. (+29): L, 2-20 - It should be noted that Akron was +4 in the TO department. They also had 3 yards on 19 carries.
@Indiana (+13): L, 24-41 - Indiana ran for 338 yards on 49 carries.
@UConn (+15.5): L, 10-44 - UConn ran for 262 on 42 carries.
Wisconsin against MAC foes:
Northern Illinois (-23.5): W, 44-3 - Wisconsin ran 55 times for 331 yards. Northern Illy ran 18 times for -13 yards.
The Game
I really expect much of the same from the above results from last year. I am pretty convinced that Akron may not score in this game. I am also convinved that they are the worst team in the MAC this season.
Akron had the ride their above-average MAC defense last season just to survive. It garnered them a 4-8 record, which could have easily been 3-9 without the miracle against Western Michigan. This year, almost all of the big names depart form the defense, and they are left with a deluge of newcomers and their depth is full of young, inexperienced kids gearing up for their first game.
This shouldn't be a tough situational spot for either team, as Akron follows this with a game @Syracuse while Wisconsin gets Marshall in week 2.
Akron Offense vs. Wisconsin D
Akron returns 8 to their offense. Wisconsin returns 9 to their defense.
Akron offense LY: PPG: 21.2 Rush yards per game: 128 (3.5 ypc) Pass yard per game: 184 (53.7% passing)
Wisconsin defense LY: PPG: 23.2 Rush yards allowed per game: 134 (4.1 ypc) Pass yards allowed per game: 223 (55.3%)
I'll start on the Akron offensive line, which I consider to be the strength of the team. Four starters are back, including two sophs (Mike Ward, Corey Woods) that were thrown into the fire last year and should be ready to go this season. Chris Kemme anchors the line at LT, as he secured 2nd Team MAC each of the last two years.
There is a problem, however. There is no help at QB. Or RB. Or WR. Or on the bench. Or anywhere else on campus (presumably).
QB Chris Jacquemain is the definition of mediocrity. He sort of won the QB over Carlton Jackson last year, which basically meant he could get Jabari Arthur the ball on a semi-consistent basis. Jacquemain finished last year with a ho-hum 11-10 ratio long with 1623 yards (56% comp pct).
There's another thing. WR Jabari Arthur is gone. How good was Arthur? He was basically the entire offense. Last year, he had 1171 of the team's 2206 receiving yards (53.1% of the yards). He had 86 of the 201 receptions (42.8% of the team's receptions). He also had 10 of the 15 passing TDs.
Last year's leading rusher was Bryan Williams (728 yards, 4.8 ypc). He was also the team's 2nd leading receiver with 204 yards on 22 catches. He is now, according to Steele, listed as the starting strong safety in an attempt to salvage a secondary that lost everyone.
Now the RB duties are left to Andrew Johnson, a former big time recruit that has been hampered by injuries for his entire career (most recently, an ACL). He could be effective, but it will most likely take him a couple of game to get back into the flow of things. Dennis Johnson should help out as well, but he wasn't effective last year after a solid 2006 season.
At WR, they are left with a slew of guys that caught 10-20 passes last year. According to Steele, they are also moving Andre Jones (last year's starting FS and leading returning tackler with 79) to WR to help out at that spot.
Wisconsin should be able to manhandle this offense. They retrun 8 of their top 9 tacklers.
Wisky's DL is probably pedestrian by Big 10 standards, but they should be able to handle a MAC OL. Even if they struggle a bit, you can bet that Wisky's LB core will be near the line considering that Akron has no proven QB or WR threat.
Wisconsin's returning LB trio of Casillas, Hodge, and Levy were the top three tacklers last year and combined for 233 tackles.
The secondary returns three of four, including Shane Carter who had 7 INTs last year to lead the big Ten.
Nine starters on the Wisconsin D are either Juniors or Seniors.
Wisconsin returns 8 to their offense. Akron returns 5 to their defense.
Wisconsin Offense LY: PPG: 29.5 Rush yards per game: 201 (4.4 ypc) Pass yards per game: 208 (57.3%)
Akron D LY: PPG allowed: 29.2 Rush yards allowed per game: 184 (4.5 ypc) Pass yards allowed per game: 225 (61.3% comp pct)
Here is Wisconsin's OL vs. Akron's DL:
Wisconsin:
C: John Moffitt - 6'4'', 317 RG: Kraig Urbik - 6'6'', 328 LG: Andy Kemp - 6'6'', 316 RT: Eric Vanden Heuvel - 6'7'', 321 LT: Gabe Carimi - 6'8'', 299
Akron:
DE: Almondo Sewell - 6'2'', 260 NT: Ryan Bain - 6'2'', 305 DT: Eric Lively - 6'2'', 275
In other words, its going to get ugly.
Akron also runs a 3-3-5 defensive scheme. This may help to confuse the pass-happy teams in the MAC, but it is unlikely to help Akron contain the between-the-tackles running of PJ Hill.
Only five of Akron's top 13 tacklers return from last year, and the top tackler (Andre Jones - 79 tackles) is converting to WR.
The strength of last year's team was in the middle of the defense, and they are all gone. Their vaunted CB tandem is gone. Reggie Corner (52 tackles, 12 pass break-ups, 7 INT) is off to the NFL, and Davanzo Tate (73 tackles, 17 pass break-ups, 2 INT) also departs.
Linebackers Brion Stokes and John Mackey are also gone. Stokes (2nd Team All-MAC) led the team in tackles LY (90) and added 5.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. Mackey (3rd team All-MAC) recorded 50 tackles despite playing only seven games before injury.
Wisconsin's passing game is a bit of a question, but they won't have to pass in this game. Allan Evridge is the projected QB after leaving Kansas St. He still has Travis Beckum (982 yards, 6 TDs), Kyle Jefferson (412 yards, 2 TDs), and Garrett Graham (328 yards, 4 TD) to pass to when the situation calls for it. This should be an easy start for Evridge as he goes against a depleted Akron secondary.
PJ Hill will anchor the offense at RB (1212 rushing, 5.3 ypc). Hill running along with Evridge's scrambling ability should give Akron fits. Wisconsin should have a field day.
Special Teams
This is a bit of a concern for Wisconsin, as they bring in two freshman to fill the kicker and punter spots. Philip Welch is the projected starter at kicker, and he was 17-20 inside 50 in HS last year. At punter, Brad Nortman steps in. He only averaged 39 yards per punt last year in HS, but I suspect that they won't be punting much in this game anyway.
Igor Iveljic returns at kicker for Akron. He was solid in his freshman season, converting 15 of 18 FGs. Eight of those FGs were inside 30 yards, though.
John Stec is back at punter for Akron. He was quite average last year, averaging 37.5 per punt. He should see a lot of work in this one.
Wisconsin returns 8 to their offense. Akron returns 5 to their defense.
Wisconsin Offense LY: PPG: 29.5 Rush yards per game: 201 (4.4 ypc) Pass yards per game: 208 (57.3%)
Akron D LY: PPG allowed: 29.2 Rush yards allowed per game: 184 (4.5 ypc) Pass yards allowed per game: 225 (61.3% comp pct)
Here is Wisconsin's OL vs. Akron's DL:
Wisconsin:
C: John Moffitt - 6'4'', 317 RG: Kraig Urbik - 6'6'', 328 LG: Andy Kemp - 6'6'', 316 RT: Eric Vanden Heuvel - 6'7'', 321 LT: Gabe Carimi - 6'8'', 299
Akron:
DE: Almondo Sewell - 6'2'', 260 NT: Ryan Bain - 6'2'', 305 DT: Eric Lively - 6'2'', 275
In other words, its going to get ugly.
Akron also runs a 3-3-5 defensive scheme. This may help to confuse the pass-happy teams in the MAC, but it is unlikely to help Akron contain the between-the-tackles running of PJ Hill.
Only five of Akron's top 13 tacklers return from last year, and the top tackler (Andre Jones - 79 tackles) is converting to WR.
The strength of last year's team was in the middle of the defense, and they are all gone. Their vaunted CB tandem is gone. Reggie Corner (52 tackles, 12 pass break-ups, 7 INT) is off to the NFL, and Davanzo Tate (73 tackles, 17 pass break-ups, 2 INT) also departs.
Linebackers Brion Stokes and John Mackey are also gone. Stokes (2nd Team All-MAC) led the team in tackles LY (90) and added 5.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. Mackey (3rd team All-MAC) recorded 50 tackles despite playing only seven games before injury.
Wisconsin's passing game is a bit of a question, but they won't have to pass in this game. Allan Evridge is the projected QB after leaving Kansas St. He still has Travis Beckum (982 yards, 6 TDs), Kyle Jefferson (412 yards, 2 TDs), and Garrett Graham (328 yards, 4 TD) to pass to when the situation calls for it. This should be an easy start for Evridge as he goes against a depleted Akron secondary.
PJ Hill will anchor the offense at RB (1212 rushing, 5.3 ypc). Hill running along with Evridge's scrambling ability should give Akron fits. Wisconsin should have a field day.
Special Teams
This is a bit of a concern for Wisconsin, as they bring in two freshman to fill the kicker and punter spots. Philip Welch is the projected starter at kicker, and he was 17-20 inside 50 in HS last year. At punter, Brad Nortman steps in. He only averaged 39 yards per punt last year in HS, but I suspect that they won't be punting much in this game anyway.
Igor Iveljic returns at kicker for Akron. He was solid in his freshman season, converting 15 of 18 FGs. Eight of those FGs were inside 30 yards, though.
John Stec is back at punter for Akron. He was quite average last year, averaging 37.5 per punt. He should see a lot of work in this one.
I see this one getting real ugly. Wisky was a joke lastyear, and I look for a real big attitude adjustment from these clowns. After whipping Wazzo in the opener, they came back with close games against weaklings UNLV, 1-AA The Citadel, and Iowa. they really didn't have an impressive win lastyear, and were destroyed at Penn St. and OSU. There is not one position match-up in this game that is close. Wisconsin is the dominant team by a big stretch. If Everidge, or whoever can play solid at QB, Wisky can name the score. I think Bielema wants that score to be high. Wisky fans were spoiled by Alvarez, and have this crazy opinion of themselves as a football power. Bielema can't let that slip away. Everybody can see the Big 11 is two years away from being strong again, and it won't be in Mr. B's financial interest to not be a part of it. I show Wisky with a 67.85% chance of covering this spread.
I live in Madison and have not missed a game in 31 years. I spoke with coach B for over an hour at one of the up scale bar's. Coach B. think nthis team can win the Big Ten and so do I. They will punish OSU in their night game in madison. Arkon cannot stop this powerful running game. The stable of running back's are STUDS, not to mention TE Beckum
I see this one getting real ugly. Wisky was a joke lastyear, and I look for a real big attitude adjustment from these clowns. After whipping Wazzo in the opener, they came back with close games against weaklings UNLV, 1-AA The Citadel, and Iowa. they really didn't have an impressive win lastyear, and were destroyed at Penn St. and OSU. There is not one position match-up in this game that is close. Wisconsin is the dominant team by a big stretch. If Everidge, or whoever can play solid at QB, Wisky can name the score. I think Bielema wants that score to be high. Wisky fans were spoiled by Alvarez, and have this crazy opinion of themselves as a football power. Bielema can't let that slip away. Everybody can see the Big 11 is two years away from being strong again, and it won't be in Mr. B's financial interest to not be a part of it. I show Wisky with a 67.85% chance of covering this spread.
I live in Madison and have not missed a game in 31 years. I spoke with coach B for over an hour at one of the up scale bar's. Coach B. think nthis team can win the Big Ten and so do I. They will punish OSU in their night game in madison. Arkon cannot stop this powerful running game. The stable of running back's are STUDS, not to mention TE Beckum
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