It’s Rose bowl Week At Last!
The Oregon Ducks landed in Pasadena yesterday, and the final build up to the Rose bowl has officially begun. It has been 25 days since the Ducks clinched the inaugural Pac-12 Championship, and it is about time for some football!
This week, we take a look at the key Wisconsin special teams-specialists, and how they have fared this season.
The Badgers boast a steady return man in sophomore WR Jared Abbrederis. He ranks 3rd Nationally with a 16.06 yard average on punt returns with 1 Td, and a solid 24.4 average on kick returns. The sure handed receiver has good speed and moves in the open field, and the Ducks will need a great overall effort to limit his big play capability.
One of the perceived weak points of the Wisconsin Special teams is the punt coverage, where nationally only Florida International, Ole Miss, and Fresno State have allowed more than the Badgers average of 15.3 per return.
The Badgers have also had their issues in kickoff coverage, and have struggled to protect their kickers this season. Most of the times the Badgers have struggled, it has come at the hands of sound blocking teams with fast and shifty return men. The protection issues have mostly come from quick defenders getting around the outside edge of the blockers.
Both of these areas are strengths of the Ducks team, and it should provide for some interesting match ups in this game. I included the Oregon stats in the same categories for comparison.
Wisconsin Kickoff:
Kickoff Specialist Alec Lerner has 7 touchbacks this season
|
Kickoffs |
No. |
Yards |
Average |
TB |
|
Alec Lerner |
61 |
3806 |
62.4 |
7 |
|
Philip Welch |
34 |
2055 |
60.4 |
8 |
|
Kyle French |
4 |
227 |
56.8 |
0 |
|
OPPONENTS |
48 |
2998 |
62.5 |
4 |
Oregon Kickoff:
|
Kickoffs |
No. |
Yards |
Average |
TB |
|
Alejandro Maldonado |
56 |
3607 |
64.4 |
1 |
|
Rob Beard |
47 |
2913 |
62 |
1 |
|
OPPONENTS |
61 |
3690 |
60.5 |
5 |
Wisonsin Punting:
Punter Brad Nortman has run a successful fake, boomed a 74 yard Punt, had one blocked, and been accused of “flopping”
|
Punting |
No. |
Yards |
Average |
Long |
Inside 20 |
TB |
Blocked |
|
Brad Nortman |
44 |
1854 |
42.1 |
74 |
17 |
3 |
1 |
|
TEAM |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
OPPONENTS |
71 |
2693 |
37.9 |
56 |
26 |
1 |
0 |
Oregon Punting:
|
Punting |
No. |
Yards |
Average |
Long |
Inside 20 |
TB |
Blocked |
|
Jackson Rice |
46 |
2066 |
44.9 |
61 |
16 |
2 |
1 |
|
OPPONENTS |
78 |
3293 |
42.2 |
62 |
23 |
8 |
1 |
Wisconsin Field Goals:
Kicker Philip Welch has made a season long 52 yard FG
|
Field Goals |
Made-Att |
Pct (%) |
Long |
Blocked |
|
Philip Welch |
4-5 |
80 |
52 |
1 |
|
Kyle French |
3-5 |
60 |
29 |
0 |
Oregon Field Goals:
|
Field Goals |
Made-Att |
Pct (%) |
Long |
Blocked |
|
Alejandro Maldonado |
6-11 |
54.5 |
40 |
0 |
|
Rob Beard |
2-2 |
100 |
30 |
0 |
Wisconsin Punt Returns:
|
Punt Returns |
No. |
Yards |
Average |
Td |
Long |
|
Jared Abbrederis |
18 |
289 |
16.1 |
1 |
60 |
|
Kenzel Doe |
1 |
13 |
13 |
0 |
13 |
|
Bradie Ewing |
1 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
|
OPPONENTS |
17 |
134 |
7.9 |
1 |
33 |
Oregon Punt Returns:
|
Punt Returns |
No. |
Yards |
Average |
Td |
Long |
|
LaMichael James |
12 |
135 |
11.2 |
1 |
58 |
|
Cliff Harris |
9 |
68 |
7.6 |
0 |
27 |
|
De’Anthony Thomas |
3 |
52 |
17.3 |
0 |
48 |
|
Kenjon Barner |
3 |
-6 |
-2 |
0 |
8 |
|
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu |
2 |
15 |
7.5 |
0 |
11 |
|
ChadDelaney |
2 |
11 |
5.5 |
0 |
6 |
|
Avery Patterson |
1 |
11 |
11 |
0 |
11 |
|
OPPONENTS |
15 |
107 |
7.1 |
0 |
20 |
Wisconsin Kick Returns:
Wisconsin did not have a kick return touchdown this season, so here is one from De’Anthony Thomas:
|
Kick Returns |
No. |
Yards |
Average |
Td |
Long |
|
Jared Abbrederis |
20 |
488 |
24.4 |
0 |
44 |
|
James White |
15 |
315 |
21 |
0 |
40 |
|
Kenzel Doe |
3 |
41 |
13.7 |
0 |
24 |
|
Melvin Gordon |
1 |
23 |
23 |
0 |
23 |
|
Brian Wozniak |
1 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
|
OPPONENTS |
75 |
1,700 |
22.7 |
1 |
96 |
Oregon Kick Returns:
And not to leave one out, here is the 2nd Kick return for DAT:
|
Kick Returns |
No. |
Yards |
Average |
Td |
Long |
|
De’Anthony Thomas |
31 |
858 |
27.7 |
2 |
96 |
|
Josh Huff |
8 |
174 |
21.8 |
0 |
40 |
|
Kenjon Barner |
7 |
115 |
16.4 |
0 |
26 |
|
Troy Hill |
2 |
53 |
26.5 |
0 |
36 |
|
Brian Jackson |
2 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
30 |
|
Terrance Mitchell |
1 |
24 |
24 |
0 |
24 |
|
LaMichael James |
1 |
21 |
21 |
0 |
21 |
|
OPPONENTS |
100 |
1950 |
19.5 |
0 |
48 |
Oregon has another “edge”: a history of disrupting the Wisconsin Kicking Game:
You can also read the previous posts here:
Getting To Know Wisconsin: Offense
Getting To Know Wisconsin: Defense
Related Articles:
Josh White has been a dedicated Duck fan since the Bill Musgrave days. He has attended (and lost his voice at) virtually every home game and many away games since the late 1980’s, including 96 of the current 97 game sellout streak at Autzen Stadium. A Eugene native, Josh works full time in Eugene area real estate, helping people buy and sell residential and commercial properties, and also volunteers with Habitat For Humanity, Kidsports and Food For Lane County. He welcomes your feedback.
Twitter: @WhiteHouseJosh
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