Wisconsin Postgame

402puck · 2026-09-07T03:00:29-0400

a fun story in three posts from Mr. Flood

NDFAN2008 · 2026-09-07T07:24:58-0400

My one concern is not having a dude after Faison. Gilbert was productive last night kinda reminded me of Collins from two years ago. They need to let Bubba lose get the kid some plays against rice and let him work.

IrishLax · 2026-09-07T07:25:52-0400

Rocketman84 said:
Tonight as well...1st read Faison, 2nd read Faison then everybody else was the only issue

This really is the problem, and honestly the whole passing game was just treading water for such a long stretch of the game we have no idea what these guys can do. I actually thought Gilbert looked really good in the opportunities he was given.

But they basically did not use the slot receiver at all and didn't really try to take any shots down the field. They also didn't attack the middle of the field much until the second half. The entire game plan was unbelievably conservative. Also, OL played like ass in pass protection a handful of times they did ask them to sustain blocks and try to let something develop down the field.

BigOunce · 2026-09-07T07:34:24-0400

FOTY977 said:
-Announcers truly awful
-UA needs to exit stage left

Last football season I would turn on Sunday night football as I was going to bed so I could listen to Mike Tirico as I drifted off to sleep. What I wouldn’t give to have him call ND games again.

notredomer23 · 2026-09-07T07:53:25-0400

Not sure anyone has called this out yet, but was anyone else fuming at the timeouts Freeman was calling before the half? Showed absolutely zero logic or feel for the game in doing so. Love Freeman, coached a great game overall, but these type of things drive me nuts. Aggressiveness for the sake of aggressiveness can get them killed against superior competition

IrishLax · 2026-09-07T07:56:50-0400

notredomer23 said:
Not sure anyone has called this out yet, but was anyone else fuming at the timeouts Freeman was calling before the half? Showed absolutely zero logic or feel for the game in doing so. Love Freeman, coached a great game overall, but these type of things drive me nuts. Aggressiveness for the sake of aggressiveness can get them killed against superior competition

It's a little aggressive and he's done it for a few years now and I generally hate it... it leans too much into potentially helping the opponent vs preserving time for a final drive for yourself. I'm sure has an analytics guy telling him it's the correct move.

Green Mountains · 2026-09-07T08:00:36-0400

notredomer23 said:
Not sure anyone has called this out yet, but was anyone else fuming at the timeouts Freeman was calling before the half? Showed absolutely zero logic or feel for the game in doing so. Love Freeman, coached a great game overall, but these type of things drive me nuts. Aggressiveness for the sake of aggressiveness can get them killed against superior competition

I was just about to post this. It almost cost them a turn over. Sometimes (analytics be damned) get to halftime and reset.

Boise St did this vs. Oregon on Saturday. 1:30 left, up 10. Called time out. Got the ball back with 1:23 left. Complete clock mismanagement, putted with 1:11 left and Oregon scored a TD. Oh yeah, Oregon won by 7. Sometimes - just don't get greedy.

T-Boone · 2026-09-07T08:01:03-0400

notredomer23 said:
Not sure anyone has called this out yet, but was anyone else fuming at the timeouts Freeman was calling before the half? Showed absolutely zero logic or feel for the game in doing so. Love Freeman, coached a great game overall, but these type of things drive me nuts. Aggressiveness for the sake of aggressiveness can get them killed against superior competition

It works okay if you have a J Love or Price who might well get a touch down from the 15 yard line on play one but without a player of that type makes less sense,

notredomer23 · 2026-09-07T08:02:42-0400

IrishLax said:
It's a little aggressive and he's done it for a few years now and I generally hate it... it leans too much into potentially helping the opponent vs preserving time for a final drive for yourself. I'm sure has an analytics guy telling him it's the correct move.

You could absolutely be right, I don’t know what the analytics say, but 2nd and 6 from the 40 with 1:56 left to me doesn’t warrant one and I’d be surprised if the analytics say go. See what the next play is first. If you get them in third and 5 or more… then it’s timeout time. You’re likely getting the ball with over a minute left and a timeout still.

Irish#1 · 2026-09-07T08:10:42-0400

arrowryan said:
Actually, one complaint. Please stop running a fucking 5 yard route on 3rd and 6. It makes me pull my hair out.

Shut up and be thankful you have hair to pull.

kzoondfi · 2026-09-07T08:14:00-0400

T-Boone said:
I honestly thought the DB on the Wisconsin touchdown was Moore. You can imagine how shocked I was.

I was worried for second too but it was Sanders. Hopefully not a recurring theme for him.

EvilleIrish · 2026-09-07T08:16:59-0400

Always hard to tell too much from week 1. My biggest concern would be that for most of the game Wisconsin sat in a two high shell just begging ND to run it and we still had issues. Hopefully it gets cleaned up.

Dale · 2026-09-07T08:22:42-0400

PFF has it as 20/30 passes were shorter than 10 yards, basically tied for the highest mark of Carr’s career. Pitt game as the other.

InKellyWeTrust · 2026-09-07T08:23:46-0400

First half Oline was not playoff caliber. They figured it out in the 2nd half though. WR has me a bit concerned. We really need to find a gamebreaker there to compliment Faison. Without Price and Love, the gamebreaking plays need to come from somewhere else. Hopefully one of the young WRs steps into that role.

arrowryan · 2026-09-07T08:28:29-0400

Mylan Graham had a big catch over the middle that was negated by a phantom holding call

NDohio · 2026-09-07T08:29:25-0400

That will go down as a quality win by the end of the year. This Wiscy team will win some games.

Another season of starting the season away from South Bend. Other top ten teams do not do that every season.

Got frustrated during the first half Denbrock offense but they worked through it and the second half was dominant. I do think there was something to the familiarity between Denbrock and Fickell causing some early issues.

This team will go as far as the WRs allow them to go. Gotta see some growth there, but the talent is on the roster for that to happen.

On to the next one…

NDBoiler · 2026-09-07T08:30:00-0400

IrishLax said:
It's a little aggressive and he's done it for a few years now and I generally hate it... it leans too much into potentially helping the opponent vs preserving time for a final drive for yourself. I'm sure has an analytics guy telling him it's the correct move.

It’s the correct move if you’re willing to push the ball down the field, and have the weapons to do so when you get it. That is still to be determined IMO, as this game didn’t show much WR playmaking other than Faison.

Dale · 2026-09-07T08:33:10-0400

With the passing game, I do think the “scheme” was heavily circumstantial and really don’t see a issue as long as the run game plays like they did in the 2H. If teams are gonna play 2 high and soft coverage, as long as you have a run game I’m not really worried that will completely stall the offense. But in terms of the circumstances:

Drive 1:
- False Start, 1st and 15 at the 16.
Drive 4:
- 1st and 10 at the 1
Drive 6:
- Holding, 2nd and 17 at the 13 - wipes out Graham catch
Drive 7: 1st and 10 at the 12, 39 seconds left

3 of the 7 first half drives were scoring drives, above is 4 that were not. They then scored TDs on all 3 2H possessions

Combine that with a run game that in the 1H was average less than 3 yards per carry, and I think the Carr/passing game stuff might be really overblown. It wasn’t a Heisman performance but it hardly rang alarm bells either for me.

rtrn2glory · 2026-09-07T08:36:51-0400

IrishLax said:
This really is the problem, and honestly the whole passing game was just treading water for such a long stretch of the game we have no idea what these guys can do. I actually thought Gilbert looked really good in the opportunities he was given.

But they basically did not use the slot receiver at all and didn't really try to take any shots down the field. They also didn't attack the middle of the field much until the second half. The entire game plan was unbelievably conservative. Also, OL played like ass in pass protection a handful of times they did ask them to sustain blocks and try to let something develop down the field.

Eerily reminded me of the Miami game from last year with the offensive plan. Extremely conservative and a ton of screens. Is that just what denbrock does week 1 regardless of the opponent?

Irish#1 · 2026-09-07T08:37:21-0400

I thought the entire team was a little too dialed up in the first half. Defense settled in about the third series.

Looked like Rudolph chewed some ass at halftime. Was glad to see a few runs outside the tackles in the second. Wiscy doesn’t have the athleticism to stop those.

Dale · 2026-09-07T08:41:49-0400

TIFWIW:

PFF had Christian Gray, Mukam, Keeley and Sanders with really bad grades on D. Tionne Gray, Shuler, Moore, Young and Brewu as really good grades

Brewu, Traore and Young combining for 10 pressures, 6 hurries and 2 sacks as well as 7 run stops.

stlnd01 · 2026-09-07T08:41:56-0400

arrowryan said:
Mylan Graham had a big catch over the middle that was negated by a phantom holding call

That was an excellent throw and and excellent catch. And not a hold at all.

Otherwise, Graham didn't record a catch. Greathouse had one for six yards. Overall nine guys caught passes but only three of them were WRs, and not sure I see a deep threat, or a big body, in the WR corps. Hopefully they develop one over the next few weeks.

stlnd01 · 2026-09-07T08:43:20-0400

Dale said:
TIFWIW:

PFF had Christian Gray, Mukam, Keeley and Sanders with really bad grades on D. Tionne Gray, Shuler, Moore, Young and Brewu as really good grades

Was it Sanders who fell down on their touchdown? (It was impossible to tell who was who with those numbers). I know he slipped but I had forgotten how sometimes DBs simply do not do their job. We've been spoiled.

DCK_1981 · 2026-09-07T08:47:30-0400

We won and covered a big spread against a power 4 team that I think will make some noise this year if they stay healthy. Feels like the perfect week 1 game for the staff. Plenty to work on and keep players humble but good enough to show them what they can be and Freeman teams have traditionally gotten a lot better throughout the season.

Rocketman84 · 2026-09-07T08:47:32-0400

Green Mountains said:
I was just about to post this. It almost cost them a turn over. Sometimes (analytics be damned) get to halftime and reset.

Boise St did this vs. Oregon on Saturday. 1:30 left, up 10. Called time out. Got the ball back with 1:23 left. Complete clock mismanagement, putted with 1:11 left and Oregon scored a TD. Oh yeah, Oregon won by 7. Sometimes - just don't get greedy.

I was going to say this but wasn't exactly sure of the times as I was watching a few games at once. Good call

rtrn2glory · 2026-09-07T08:48:31-0400

Wisconsin had some good schemed up plays in there second and third down play calls and some timely shots. Overall the first half couldn't have gone much better for them. They were a fumbled kickoff from being ahead at halftime

Huntr · 2026-09-07T08:49:01-0400

stlnd01 said:
Was it Sanders who fell down on their touchdown? (It was impossible to tell who was who with those numbers). I know he slipped but I had forgotten how sometimes DBs simply do not do their job. We've been spoiled.

Yes, he got burnt there. I thought he bit too hard on the double move. But, not the only ND db to do that last night.

ndinoxford · 2026-09-07T08:49:08-0400

Was otting the center in the fourth quarter?

NDVirginia19 · 2026-09-07T08:53:28-0400

I just want to know what happened with Greathouse

notredomer23 · 2026-09-07T08:53:37-0400

Thread essentially has the only two busts ND’s defense had. Pretty sweet move for a guy that size.

Wisconsin Postgame

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