Just some random thoughts from the weekend.

• I thought some interesting choices of kids on the travel roster. 4 QB's, Lock, Evers and Burkett.
• Some kid named Jarvis...looked him up, he's a walkon freshman.
• All the kickers, Van Zelst, VanDyke (who's injured again), and Vakos....I think there was another punter besides Bertrams
• I met Atticus's dad, super nice guy. Said the first American football game he ever played in was last Saturday against Buffalo in front of 80k fans....interesting. Wants to get into the business school and has never experienced a winter....
• The fan experience was very fun in Martin Stadium, loud and must have been hard to hear for the offense...but they didn't have many problems.
• Cougar fans were more than gracious and super happy a ranked opponent came to Pullman (it's out in the middle of nowhere).
• Was super surprised how many Badger fans there were....but the WAA organized NOTHING.....piss poor in my opinion. There must have been 5-7k of us there.
• Vakos is very active on the sidelines. Interesting kid.
• Nice campus, clean and compact. The stadium is right in the middle of everything. Good college atmosphere.
• As mentioned before, could not get internet during the game..
• Only negative was that they're a bit amateurish in that they had music blaring or the band was playing during the referee's calls. The stopped doing that in the 4th quarter.
• Townsend is still on the team and was there....odd.

Outside of the crappy result, it was a fun day, perfect weather and great atmosphere, people were awesome!
But in interest of the future Badger games (and success), I don't think I can go any more...I'm 0-3 and it's not been fun!!

Anyone know when they will announce the game time for Iowa Oct 14? It makes it hard to make plans without knowing. Thanks!

No changes. Still no Mullens, Renfro or Mack.

VIDEO


STRENGTHS


At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Cooper Catalano is an ultra-productive player from his middle linebacker position. If he’s not involved in a tackle, Catalano is almost always near the football. As a future four-year varsity performer, the three-star prospect has a chance to break the career total tackling record in the state of Wisconsin.

On the offensive side of the ball, Catalano had a handful of carries and looked comfortable in that role. Germantown also used him as a lead blocker for its quarterback on designed runs, and Catalano created running lanes in that capacity.

As a sophomore, Catalano - body-wise - reminded me a lot of former Badgers linebacker Chris Borland (and a little Derek Landisch as well). This year, he’s noticeably leaner, and he has plenty of room to add more weight to his frame. Catalano has excellent bend and flexible hips. Because of this characteristic, Catalano is rarely held up at the line of scrimmage by an offensive lineman. He’s almost always roaming free to the football, a reason why the productivity is so high.

Catalano is also an excellent tackler who diagnoses plays well. When he makes contact, the ball carrier moves in the opposite direction. But he’s not all brute strength. On Friday, Catalano showed the ability to move from sideline to sideline in pursuit of the football, as well as the ability to drop back in coverage. The area I thought he excelled the most in, however, was in blitz opportunities. Catalano has a great feel for the snap count and was consistently in the backfield during those snaps.

REMAINING QUESTIONS

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Overall speed is the biggest remaining question I have with Catalano. According to his Hudl, he runs a 4.81-second 40-yard dash. That time could be outdated and from his freshman year, but it’s something that could concern coaches at the next level. I’d also argue that he needs to put on some more weight/strength over the next 12 months.

Even if that’s what Catalano is currently running, you can’t argue with what he puts on tape. It ultimately may prevent him from taking his recruitment to an elite level, but I don’t remember too many in-state athletes who impacted a game at such a young age in comparison to what Catalano is doing right now. He was the best player on the field Friday and it wasn’t even close.

I’d also be a little concerned about the wear and tear on a linebacker who will have played - if he stays healthy - every defensive snap on the varsity level for four years. But there’s no way to prevent that.

Finally, Germantown is riddled by injuries this year. With that, its offensive line is down and they are playing with a backup quarterback. Those factors played a role in Catalano's production to start the year. He's also battling a foot injury that kept

OUTLOOK/RECRUITMENT

It will be interesting to see if Catalano’s recruitment stays in the Midwest, or if other programs from from coast to coast kick the tires. He visited Tennessee this summer and recently picked up an offer from Missouri.

Right now, I have a FutureCast in for the Badgers and I feel very good about that. Catalano has visited Wisconsin no less than seven times and already has two return trips scheduled to Madison this fall. Mike Tressel has communicated to Catalano that he’s the top inside linebacker and their 2025 board. If there's a team to watch outside of UW, it could be Illinois. But I think the Badgers have a chance to lock this one up as early as this fall.

WISCONSIN COMPARISON ON THE CURRENT ROSTER
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Again, the Borland and Landisch comps come to mind here, but they are obviously not on the current roster. Maybe a little Aidan Vaughan in terms of body type, but that’s not a perfect comparison.

Let me know what you think.

Have at it…

How bad is Jeff Simms? OMG, train wreck of turn overs

Two questions, does anyone else on the board still have cable with spectrum? The espn fight with spectrum chaps my …
Please, let me know, those that don’t have cable, how do you watch college sports?

This is a tough one for me. Ward is a dynamic QB and our D was kind of porous last week. Can we generate a pass rush and generate some mistakes from him? Can we expose their secondary and rack up some big numbers in the passing game? Can we keep our running game at this same level? I'm going 35-17 UW!

GREAT pre-season and Watt says that he's been great. I can't wait to see them both together!! Thoughts?

Leipold & Daniels making the Illini D look silly rn!

I love the concept and I wish we would see more of this to away games. Does anyone know how full the flight or flights were to the game on Alaska air?
Any feedback on price/convenience?

KU is up on Illanoy 21-0 👀

For me, I was about 2. My Grandpa had season tickets and I didn't miss a game until I was 21. I joined the Air Force and was stationed in Del Rio TX. The first game I missed, I think that I actually cried