The Varsity Collective just announced a limited-edition Braelon Allen bobblehead promotion. Really cool to see this type of NIL opportunity for our best player. A $250 charitable donation gets you an autographed bobblehead and supports not just Braelon but all Badgers across every program. If we want to compete with the Ohio States and Michigans in the NIL era, this is the type of thing we need to be doing to rally behind our guys!! https://thevarsitycollective.com/bobblehead/

A look at some top prospects who could change their minds:

I don’t really talk much about my life outside of the web site on here. But I think I should fill people in on what’s been happening the last few months.

This summer, my younger sister was diagnosed with cancer. Things kept getting worse and the cancer spread very quickly. She passed away yesterday afternoon just before she was scheduled to go into hospice. She’s had medical issues for a lot of her life, so this wasn’t completely out of the blue.

As far as work on here, the last few months have been tough, but the site and the work involved was a needed escape. Today, I’m going to keep plugging away and reaching out to recruits. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but there’s not much else I can do to help my family right now. But if things slow down in the next few weeks, just know that we’re doing the best we can on our end.

Appreciate everyone’s support on the message board. I’m lucky to be able to do this work for this web site.

anyone heard from these guys lately? Hope all is well!! Miss their posts!

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Dan and Raul will be at the Kohl Center for the annual Red/White Scrimmage.

Raul will post updates in this thread. Tips off at 4:00 PM.

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Howard rescheduled from earlier this year.

Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin Earn Weekly Football Honors

Terrapins’ Hemby, Buckeyes’ Ruggles, Nittany Lions’ Clifford, and Badgers’ Torchio garner accolades

Following Week 8 contests, the Big Ten Conference Offensive, Defensive, and Special Teams Players of the Week, and the Freshman of the Week were announced this morning. Below are this week's honorees:

Offensive Player of the Week

Sean Clifford, Penn State

QB – Sr. – Cincinnati, Ohio – St. Xavier

• Completed 23-of-31 passes for 295 yards and four touchdowns to become the career completions leader at Penn State, passing Trace McSorley (720; 2015-18) in the Nittany Lions’ 45-17 victory against Minnesota
• On a 4-yard pass in the first quarter, Clifford became the second Nittany Lion to record 9,000 career passing yards
• Collected his 10th career game with 250+ passing yards and three or more passing touchdowns
• The three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree earns his fourth career Offensive Player of the Week award and second of the season
• Last Penn State Offensive Player of the Week: Sean Clifford (Sept. 5, 2022)

Defensive Player of the Week

John Torchio, Wisconsin

S – Sr. – Lafayette, Calif. – Campolindo

• Picked off a pair of passes in Wisconsin's win over Purdue, including a first-quarter interception that he returned for a touchdown
• The first Badger to record two interceptions and return one for a score in the same game since Natrell Jamerson did so against Northwestern in 2016
• Totaled a career-high 10 tackles, a team high in the win
• The three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree earns the first Defensive Player of the Week accolade of his career
• Last Wisconsin Defensive Player of the Week: Kamo'I Latu (Oct. 10, 2022)

Special Teams Player of the Week

Noah Ruggles, Ohio State

K – Gr. – Odessa, Fla. – Steinbrenner

• Kicked four field goals early against Iowa's top-five defense to help Ohio State build a 26-10 lead on the way to a 54-10 victory
• Converted on four field goals (46, 41, 35, 26) and six PATs for a career-high 18-point day
• His four first-half field goals tie for the second most in a game in pro-gram history, matching eight other Buckeye placekickers
• Garners the second Special Teams Player of the Week honor of his career
• Last Ohio State Special Teams Player of the Week: Noah Ruggles (Nov. 1, 2021)

Freshman of the Week

Roman Hemby, Maryland

RB – Edgewood, Md. – The John Carroll School

• Rushed for a career-high 179 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in Maryland’s win over Northwestern
• Scored the game-winning touchdown on a career-long 75-yard run with 3:33 remaining in the game to put the Terps ahead for good
• Forced 10 missed tackles on runs, the most by an Autonomy Five running back in the country this week
• Earns the second Freshman of the Week honor of his career
• Last Maryland Freshman of the Week: Jaishawn Barham (Oct. 10, 2022)

2022 Big Ten Football Players of the Week


Aug. 29

O: Chase Brown, RB, Jr., ILL

O: Ryan Hilinski, QB, Jr., NU

D: Cameron Mitchell, CB, Jr., NU

S: Luke Akers, P, Jr., NU

Sept. 5

O: Anthony Grant, RB, Jr., NEB

O: Sean Clifford, QB, Sr., PSU

D: Jacoby Windmon, DE/LB, Sr., MSU

S: Tory Taylor, P, Jr., IOWA

F: Roman Hemby, RB, MD

Sept. 12

O: Taulia Tagovailoa, QB, Jr., MD

O: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, So., OSU

D: Jacoby Windmon, DE/LB, Sr., MSU

S: Lukas Van Ness, DT, So., IOWA

F: Nicholas Singleton, RB, PSU


Sept. 19

O: C.J. Stroud, QB, So., OSU

D: Ji'Ayir Brown, S, Sr., PSU

S: Charles Campbell, PK, Jr., IND

F: Nicholas Singleton, RB, PSU


Sept. 26

O: Blake Corum, RB, Jr., MICH

O: Tanner Morgan, QB, Sr., MINN

D: Kaevon Merriweather, DB, Sr., IOWA

D: Tommy Eichenberg, LB, Sr., OSU

S: Tory Taylor, P, Jr., IOWA

F: Kaytron Allen, RB, PSU

Oct. 3

O: Miyan Williams, RB, Jr., OSU

D: Cam Allen, S, Sr., PUR

S: Barney Amor, P, Sr., PSU

F: Malcolm Hartzog, CB, NEB


Oct. 10

O: C.J. Stroud, QB, So., OSU

D: Kamo'I Latu, S, Jr., WIS

S: Fabrizio Pinton, K/P, Fr., ILL

F: Fabrizio Pinton, K/P, ILL

F: Jaishawn Barham, LB, MD


Oct. 17

O: Chase Brown, RB, Jr., ILL

O: Aidan O'Connell, QB, Sr., PUR

D: Jacoby Windmon, DE/LB, Sr., MSU

S: Jake Moody, K, Gr., MICH

F: Devin Mockobee, RB, PUR



Oct. 24

O: Sean Clifford, QB, Sr., PSU

D: John Torchio, S, Sr., WIS

S: Noah Ruggles, K, Gr., OSU

F: Roman Hemby, RB, MD

News and rumors from the recruiting trail:

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Port is finishing out a facilities tour today. Scheduled to speak with him this evening.

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VIDEO: https://wisconsin.rivals.com/news/week-3-in-state-blitz-2023-linebacker-blake-fletcher

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STRENGTHS

The coaching philosophy with Blake Fletcher is pretty simple. He’s the best athlete on the roster, and likely the best player on the field each Friday. How can the staff - or his dad, Racine Horlick head coach Brian Fletcher - position Fletcher to make the most impact on both sides of the ball? That’s been the case over the last four seasons as a four-year varsity starter.

At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Fletcher plays both linebacker and quarterback in the Rebels’ run-heavy attack. He’s lining up under center because he’s the best athlete, but the two-star senior is explosive as a runner - two rushing scores during Horlick’s 29-14 win over Kenosha Tremper on Friday evening. He also made a handful of completions - 9 of 14 for 100 yards - against the Trojans.

On the defensive side of the ball, Fletcher played primarily in the middle of the field from his linebacker position. Similar to how he’s used on offense, Fletcher is positioned to make as many plays as possible, both in defending the run and pass. With Tremper having some success through the air in the first half, there were a few snaps where Fletcher played what I would describe as a rover position - deeper than linebacker but also just in front of where a safety is lined up.

In normal base packages, he’s highly effective against the run and can go sideline to sideline in pursuit of the football. But Fletcher can also hold his own in pass coverage - he would have had a pick on Friday had his younger brother, Carson Fletcher, not stepped in front of a pass a half-second sooner.

Because of what he's tasked to do at the second and third level, Fletcher isn’t asked to blitz all that much - at least that was the case on Friday night. With his combination of strength, burst and length, I’d be curious what type of production Fletcher could have if he was allowed to just get in the backfield on every snap. You’d see some big-time sack numbers and opposing offenses having to keep a running back in for protection.

Overall, I came away impressed with Fletcher, who committed to the Air Force this summer. Legit size, powerful at the point attack, long arms and above average ability to flip his hips and burst in the opposite direction. The week prior against Lake Geneva Badger, Fletcher racked up an eye-popping 22 tackles. He didn’t have that same production against Tremper, but there’s a lot to like here.

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AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

Not a ton to write about in this category. I thought Fletcher over-pursued a few times, but he largely diagnoses well and keeps things in front of him. Pad-level is also something that will need some tweaks at the next level, but when Fletcher makes contact, the ball carrier and sometimes the entire pile is moving in the other direction. He’ll be able to run and defend against bigger tight ends in coverage, but Fletcher could struggle with running backs in the flats in college. That’s a question some Power 5 schools probably had during their evaluation.

OUTLOOK/RECRUITMENT

Fletcher is a kid I was told to keep an eye on since his freshman season. That year, he started at both quarterback and linebacker. The following season, Fletcher was the first sophomore selected as the All-Racine County Player of the Year. He got off to a fast start last fall before breaking his left fibula in Week 3 against Oak Creek and missed the rest of the year. Had he played the entire year, I think Fletcher would have racked up Power 5 offers.

Fletcher is currently committed to Air Force but took in Wisconsin’s season opener against Illinois State. The Badgers don’t have a huge need at inside linebacker in this cycle, but he’s a kid I would make an effort to add in this cycle. UW isn’t getting him with a preferred walk-on offer, but I think Fletcher would flip quickly if a full schoarship were extended.

In-state kid who is No. 1 in his class academically with the ability to play either linebacker spot or even H-back at the next level. Considering Wisconsin still has room in this cycle, an offer, in my opinion, makes a lot of sense here. If your mantra is tough, smart, dependable, Fletcher checks all those boxes. We’ll see how things play out this fall.

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WISCONSIN COMPARISON ON THE CURRENT ROSTER

When I first got in contact with Fletcher this summer to discuss Wisconsin’s recent interest, I assumed the coaching staff liked him at outside linebacker. That’s not the case, even though his body type would reflect the ability to play on the edge.

Overall, Fletcher reminds me a lot of C.J. Goetz in high school because of his length and size. Like Goetz during his time at Catholic Memorial, Fletcher is just at a different level physically in comparison to the players he’s going up against. If we’re looking strictly at inside backers, though, Tate Grass or Jake Ratzlaff are decent comps. Both are taller and a little longer in comparison to other players at the position on the current roster.

Let me know what you think.

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Enough of the when will u retire. Time for Where u will retire?? 1) Florida .. watch out for the hurricane, exodus there2) Arizona/NM.. Melt away 3) Montana/Wyoming.. Jeremiah Johnson 4)Maine.. let’s hike at Acadia5)The Carolinas.luv v the golf at myrtle beach6)Texas.. who isn’t go there? 7)California?? Only the crazies8) Tenn luv them low taxes and Smokies9) Black Hills SD.. luv it10) Wis .. friends, family,familiarity.. 11) Caribbean .. luv it