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Wisconsin coach figures out how to use new clock rules to advantage

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November 3, 2006


Tables have turned for Wisconsin this year


Last year, Penn State sacked QB John Stocco nine times. This year, the Badgers are favored to win.

By Beth Hudson Of The Morning Call


If John Stocco remembers anything from last year's game against Penn State, perhaps, it's the sight of Nittany Lion defenders bearing down on him.

Being sacked nine times in one afternoon can have that effect on a quarterback ? and Stocco, then a junior at Wisconsin, was hit from all directions on Nov. 5, 2005. Tamba Hali alone sacked him four times.

''I think that was probably the most I've ever been sacked in a game,'' Stocco said earlier this week. ''We knew they had an excellent front, and they could get a lot of pressure without blitzing. ? Obviously, they did a few good things against us.''

The Nittany Lions (6-3, 4-2) and Badgers (8-1, 5-1) will meet again on Saturday ? this time, on Stocco's home turf at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. The roles seem to be reversed this year as well.

The Lions are searching for a signature victory on their schedule. They've lost to three top-five teams ? Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan ? and defeated six unranked squads.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin still has an outside chance to play in a BCS bowl, even though it trails both undefeated Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten standings. The 17th-ranked Badgers must win their remaining games and hope that either the Buckeyes or Wolverines lose twice (rules permit only two teams per conference to play in BCS bowls).

''As far as bowl games, we're not concerned with that at all,'' Stocco said. ''It's definitely a big game. Penn State's a very good football team, and we're going to have our hands full. It's definitely a big game in that respect.''

This time, however, Stocco and his team are the favorites.

A year ago, the Lions never allowed Wisconsin to establish its running game, holding Brian Calhoun to 38 rushing yards (and the Badgers to minus-11 as a team). Though Stocco passed for 313 yards, he found himself in trouble all day.

''I just remember going out there and having fun,'' Penn State defensive tackle Jay Alford said of the 35-14 victory. ''It was a great environment. We went out there and played our game. We ended up with nine sacks.''

''The next day, you've got to look at the mistakes you made and then you've got to move on,'' Stocco said. ''You've got to get it out of your system.''

If this season's results are any indication, Stocco did just that.

He enters this week's game as the Big Ten's fourth-leading passer at 200.8 yards per game. Even more noteworthy, the senior doesn't make mistakes; he's completed 61 percent of his passes for 1,807 yards, 14 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

''I think experience just helps you out so much ? especially at the quarterback position,'' Stocco said. ''I think I've been in just about every situation you can be in as a quarterback. I've tried to not make the throws that have hurt us in the past.''

''Anyone that has an extra year of experience, they're always going to be smarter and make better decisions,'' Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny said. ''He's not going to make a lot of mistakes. I think he's a very, very smart, heady player. He's in charge of the offense, and he does a great job controlling the offense for them.''

And, fortunately for Stocco, he doesn't have to do it on his own.

With his 5-11, 242-pound frame, redshirt freshman running back P.J. Hill is already drawing comparisons to former Wisconsin star Ron Dayne. Hill leads the conference with a striking 135.8 rushing yards per game.

Sophomore tight end Travis Beckum ? an attractive target at 6-4, 219 ? leads all Wisconsin receivers with 37 catches for 577 yards and three touchdowns.

It should add up to a challenging day for the Penn State defense, which hasn't given up a touchdown since the Michigan game on Oct. 14. Posluszny said his team needs the victory as much as Wisconsin does.

''To have a special season, you have to win big-time games against big-time teams,'' he said. ''Wisconsin might be our last chance, so we really have to take advantage of it.''

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Is anyone watching this? Bielema found an interesting hole in the new clock rules. With 20-some second left in the first half, Wisky was kicking off. He had his team deliberately go offsides on successive kicks, with the clock starting and burning time right when the kicker kicks the ball. Penn State tried returning the second one, but got hit with an offsetting holding call, so it had to be kicked again. All in all, the Badgers burned around 20 seconds off.

Smart move, though the announcers are getting a little too mancrushy over it. :wink:

Edit: JoePa was livid!
 
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BrutusBobcat;652482; said:
Is anyone watching this? Bielema found an interesting hole in the new clock rules. With 20-some second left in the first half, Wisky was kicking off. He had his team deliberately go offsides on successive kicks, with the clock starting and burning time right when the kicker kicks the ball. Penn State tried returning the second one, but got hit with an offsetting holding call, so it had to be kicked again. All in all, the Badgers burned around 20 seconds off.

Smart move, though the announcers are getting a little too mancrushy over it. :wink:

Edit: JoePa was livid!
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I would be livid too, sounds like some ncaa 07 glitch shit lol
 
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It's easy to laugh at in this game, but what if there are broader implications of this? If, by some miracle, Michigan scores to take a 3 point lead over us with, say, 1:30 left in the game. By the time they did that crap 2x, we could be down to about 35 seconds or so. I think it's interesting someone found it, but it will suck if it happens in an important game.
 
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neomits;652492; said:
The way around it is to just not accept the penalty. It sucks, but thats the fix for now till the developers release a patch.

:)
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Problem is if they run everyone down the field way before the kick your field position is going to suck, unless the ball gets into the end zone, which it won't if the kicker kicks it right.
 
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Bucklion;652489; said:
It's easy to laugh at in this game, but what if there are broader implications of this? If, by some miracle, Michigan scores to take a 3 point lead over us with, say, 1:30 left in the game. By the time they did that crap 2x, we could be down to about 35 seconds or so. I think it's interesting someone found it, but it will suck if it happens in an important game.
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that's a pretty specific "if." if we're going to consider such a specific "if" like that, then we must also consider that if something like that "if" happens, replaying the game for the national championship is all the more likely.

it's going to take things like what happened in the psu/wisky game for the ncaa to change the new clock rules. i was expecting changes to be made anyway, but this thrusts the changes past the threshold. i would just like to see football go back to the old clock rules for the last 2 minutes of each half. other than that, i'm fine with the new clock rules.
 
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OSU_Buckguy;652497; said:
that's a pretty specific "if." if we're going to consider such a specific "if" like that, then we must also consider that if something like that "if" happens, replaying the game for the national championship is all the more likely.

it's going to take things like what happened in the psu/wisky game for the ncaa to change the new clock rules. i was expecting changes to be made anyway, but this thrusts the changes past the threshold. i would just like to see football go back to the old clock rules for the last 2 minutes of each half. other than that, i'm fine with the new clock rules.
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Not all that speculative in my estimation...that was exhibit A on how to run down the clock with a lead in a close game at the end...not saying it will happen to us necessarily, but it could happen to someone.
 
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Bucklion;652498; said:
Not all that speculative in my estimation...that was exhibit A on how to run down the clock with a lead in a close game at the end...not saying it will happen to us necessarily, but it could happen to someone.
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quite speculative for the osu/scum game but not for some game in the future.
 
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