College Football Weekend Preview: Wakeup Call for Gary Andersen

The head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers handled the aftermath of the loss to LSU very poorly, and now he must deal with the fallout and a skeptical fanbase.

As bad as giving up a second half 17-point lead to LSU in losing the season opener was for Wisconsin, the aftermath of the game played out even more bizzarely, leaving observers questioning the leadership of the Badgers.

Coach Gary Andersen is giving his fanbase mixed signals, unsure of what's true and what's false, whether he's covering to make up for his own mistakes and whether he's in over his head.

Two situations, one involving running back Melvin Gordon and the other involving quarterback Joel Stave, have played out at opposite ends of the spectrum, the former with what appears to be an injury exaggerated and the latter with an injury worse than meets the eye.

Regarding Gordon, the Heisman Trophy candidate took the first carry of the second half an electrifying 63 yards, for a total of 135 yards, against a historically tough LSU defense. Rather inexplicably, Gordon only had three carries the rest of the way in what was a close game.

When asked after the game why Gordon received such a small workload, Andersen responded with an "I don't know" before referring vaguely to a "scenario," which he didn't explain until Monday, saying Gordon had a "bit of a hip flexor."

It's certainly understandable that if Gordon was indeed injured, he would exit the game temporarily to be evaluated, but either he can play or he can't. There was no good reason to play him only sparingly the remainder of the game.

Beyond that, Andersen erred by committing a coach's Cardinal sin of saying "I don't know" in a public setting, which if true, really would indicate he's in over his head.

Despite possessing a defensive pedigree, Andersen is now coaching in the big leagues of college football, and must assert his power on both sides of the football. If offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig is to blame for not getting Gordon the ball enough, then Andersen needs to step in and make his voice heard, even if it's in the middle of a game.

Worse yet, the under-utilization of Gordon is a trend that dates back to last season, written about in this same space. Granted, the Badgers have had other good running backs on the roster—including James White and Corey Clement—but Andersen is failing to recognize truly how talented Gordon is.

Wisconsin needs to ride the coattails of Gordon. As one of the best players in the nation, and an Eric Dickerson-like talent, he should be touching the football about 25 times per game and more than that shouldn't be out of the question.

As for Stave, the coaching staff annointed Tanner McEvoy the starter at quarterback against LSU and received a very, very poor performance from the junior college transfer, completing just eight of 24 passes for 50 yards, none longer than 14. Mediocre as Stave might be, the Badgers probably would have won with a Stave-esque performance circa 2013.

On Monday, Andersen said, "I still think there's opportunities for both guys to play," but by Tuesday acknowledged that Stave would be shut down temporarily with an injury to his throwing shoulder that dates back to the Capital One Bowl last season.

Only that wasn't the end. By Tuesday evening, Andersen apologized for using injury as an excuse and explained Stave is just being shut down because he's struggling, an extreme form of struggling in which he's having trouble completing routine passes, as peculiar as that may be.

Once again, it would be understandable if Andersen wanted to keep LSU in the lurch, preparing for two quarterbacks, but why he wasn't forthcoming on Stave in the immediate aftermath of the game is the part that has raised red flags. By simply acknowledging he wanted to keep LSU guessing and coming clean on Stave after the fact, much of the backlash would have been avoided.

If we add one more foonote to the story, Andersen characterized the injury to defensive lineman Warren Herring suffered in the LSU game as being "day to day" before it was learned on Wednesday that he'll miss four to six weeks after having surgery on his right knee.

All Andersen needs to do is be up front with the media and explain himself because that's the medium he reaches the fanbase. Right now, the public is receiving excuses, poor explanations or no explanation at all.

It's a shame because, if nothing else, Andersen was viewed as coach of character prior to the LSU game. In the matter of about 96 hours following the loss, Andersen went from cushy job security to being on the hot seat.

As the Badgers get ready to face Western Illinois on Saturday, the matter of going with McEvoy at quarterback remains a sticking point, but if they don't want to take the redshirt of true freshman D.J. Gillins, they may not have anywhere else to turn.

McEvoy's footwork was particularly poor, exhibiting happy feet, failing to set his feet and throwing of his back foot, all of which instill little confidence that he's going to be able to turn things around.

But if there's one thing that works to McEvoy's favor, Andersen's favor and the Badgers' favor as a whole, it's that the schedule from here on out sets up incredibly nicely.

The Badgers, even without Warren Herring and with Daffy Duck at quarterback, should still be able to beat an FCS opponent on Saturday. After that they have a bye, before facing what appears to be average to below-average Bowling Green and South Florida squads to finish the non-conference slate.

Then Wisconsin kicks off the Big Ten schedule by facing one of the worst teams in the conference against Illinois. The next four games are all at home. The Badgers have the luxury of time to fix the myriad of issues that were exposed against LSU.

Prediction: The distractions and injuries may keep the Badgers from blowing out Western Illinois like they should, but they win regardless. 24-7, On Wisconsin.

 

Where College GameDay Is At

ESPN's popular pregame show will originate from the campus of the University of Oregon for arguably the best non-conference game of the season when the Michigan State Spartans come to town to take on the Ducks with kickoff taking place at 5:30 p.m. CT on Fox.

Oregon may be the program that's enjoyed more success over the better part of the last decade, but Michigan State is coming off the better 2013 season, one in which they won a Big Ten championship and won their first Rose Bowl since 1988, beating the Stanford team that's stymied Oregon in each of the past two seasons.

Both teams are coming off easy wins over FCS opponents in their season openers, so tons more will be learned after Saturday's contest. It's a classic match-up of offense versus defense, pitting Oregon's up-tempo spread against Michigan State's aggressive, in-your-face defense (an terrific Xs and Os breakdown of the unit, and highly-suggested reading, comes from Smart Football's Chris Brown at Grantland).

Yards per play is one of the better indicators of success in college football, and this game features two of the best from last season. Oregon ranked No. 2 in the nation in offensive yards per play (7.2), while Michigan State ranked first in the nation in defensive yards per play, allowing an average of just 3.9.

The Ducks are led by quarterback Marcus Mariota, a Heisman Trophy candidate and a prospective Top 3 NFL draft choice. He's the entire package, possessing a terrific arm, the smarts to avoid turnovers and the legs to make him perhaps the top dual-threat quarterback in college football.

Entering his third consecutive year as the starter at Oregon, Mariota has name recognition, but the Spartans possess a pretty good quarterback in their own right in Connor Cook, who threw 22 touchdowns against only six interceptions last year.

Combined with running back Keith Langford, the Spartans have more offensive talent than most observers recognize. Langford gained 725 of his 1,338 rushing yards after contact last season, which ranked second among all FBS running backs, according to STATS.

Michigan State has plenty of next-level talent on the defensive side of the football: defensive end Shalique Calhoun, linebacker Taiwan Jones, cornerback Trae Waynes and safety Kurtis Drummond. It might just be enough to disrupt an Oregon offense that is replacing preseason all-conference left tackle Tyler Johnstone.

Prediction: Public perception is that the Big Ten rightfully ranks behind the Pac-12 in the NCAA football conference hierarchy. And Autzen Stadium is no easy place for a visiting team to win. But this Michigan State squad is building something special between an elite defense and underrated talent on the offensive side of the football. Look for the Spartans to pull a stunning upset. 28-21, Go Green, Go White.

 

What Happened Before Saturday

There wasn't a whole lot separating ACC rivals Pittsburgh and Boston College in 2013. Both finished the season with identical 7-6 records.

But based upon their head-to-head meeting on Friday evening, it would appear Pittsburgh has done the better job recruiting and replacing talent.

Pitt lost defensive lineman Aaron Donald (first round), quarterback Tom Savage (fourth round) and wide receiver Devin Street (fifth round) to the NFL.

Boston College, meanwhile, lost running back Andre Williams (fourth round), linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis (fourth round), defensive end Kaleb Ramsey (seventh round) and kicker Nate Freese (seventh round) to the ranks of the NFL, in addition to four-year starting quarterback Chase Retting, who was in training camp with the Green Bay Packers.

Pittsburgh, led by former Wisconsin assistant Paul Chryst, was able to go into Chestnut Hill, Mass. and beat Boston College 30-20 on their home turf Friday night.

With a pair of sophomores leading the charge, it would appear Pittsburgh is in good shape for the next few seasons. Running back James Conner rushed for over 200 yards and wide receiver Tyler Boyd had two receiving touchdowns.

In a wide open Coastal Division, Pittsburgh is showing they has a good a chance as anyone to advance to the conference championship.

 

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Icebowler's picture

September 07, 2014 at 09:59 pm

I thought this was strictly a Packer site? No wonder Bitter Bear Breath is PO'd.

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