Grading the Bucks: Week 5--Wisconsin

Offense: A-
Braxton returned to mass acclaim as the offense fairly easily worked its way through the Badger defense.  Let's be honest, Chris Borland is a MAN and was doing all he could to turn the Bucks away, but he couldn't stop everything by himself.  I feel like Braxton carried the ball a few too many times, but that was most likely due to Borland plugging up the running backs.  The O-line was ok, but I was disappointed with the lack of a consistent running game from the backs.  Miller has shown great strides on the 'bullet' throws, but he still has work to do on the touch passes.  Overall, while I would have liked some more points (failed 4th and 1!!), I'll take a W with no turnovers.

Defense: C+
Jared Abbrederis just broke open again.  Wisconsin has ONE receiver and Fickell refused to double him (dear Bengals: see Jordan Cameron).  Roby lost thousands of dollars again for another weak performance. The run defense was outstanding, but the secondary wasn't getting it done.  Ryan Shazier played his best game of the year. Joel Stave had to beat us through the air, and we made him look like Joe freakin Montana.  Wisconsin shouldn't be able to throw the rock with impunity.  While I question Christian Bryant's technique (see blowing up the fullback on the TD), I'm sad for him that he'll miss the rest of the year.  If this defense could keep the intensity with which they started the game, we'd never give up a point.  Keep the pressure and hopefully, we can hide the lack in the secondary.

Special Teams: B-
Made a FG so we got that going for us (which is nice).  The Philly Brown punt return that was (thankfully) nullified by a penalty was just awful.  There is absolutely no excuse for him attempting to field the bouncing ball with no help.  I felt it was enough of a mental brainfart to remove him from punt returns for the rest of the game, if not season.  Turnovers in games like that can swing momentum and can't happen because the player isn't thinking.

Coaching: B-
I'm going to keep at this until Urban and Tom Herman read and heed this blog: RUN THE QB SNEAK UNDER CENTER!! This aggressive playcalling is fine (4th and 1) but the finesse running game is painful to watch.  Braxton is huge.  Carlos Hyde is a beast.  Run the ball from under center. Don't bring the ball away from where you want to go.  The other downside is the excessive amount of runs called for Braxton.  Use the stable of backs more consistently.  I know Chris Borland is good, but so is our backfield.

Overall: B
A win is a win.  Some don't like it, but I never really feared a loss in this game.  The offense again went into a shell late in the game, but there wasn't a real threat of loss.  Defensive adjustments must be made (Abbrederis is open again). Thankfully, this team doesn't play many teams with good offenses....or defenses.... For the Bucks to have a shot at the title, it appears they will need four of the following UGA to lose again, Clemson to lose, Oregon to lose, Bama to lose (maybe twice), and perhaps Stanford to lose.  That's asking a lot...