FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[emma17]

The LB's inexperience was obvious especially in the playoff run.

LB'ers were dominating in the Stagg Bowl. Matt Sietz played like a veteran as a freshman. His pass coverage was outstanding. There were growing pains earlier in the season, for sure, but they were great when it mattered most. When it's all said and done, he will be an all time great, I believe.

Come on man. That was the least dominating "dominating" performance ever witnessed.
Dominating:
2013:  Burke 12 carries for -10 yards. Mt avg per carry- 1.2 yards.
2014:  Burke 10 carries for +79 yards. Mt avg per carry- 6.9 yards.
Coverage was decent.
Reaction slow.
Open field tackling mediocre.

You're comparing a senior, veteran unit (4 guys gaining all conference notice I think) in '13 with a completely young, inexperienced unit in '14. However, over half of Burke's running yards (50 of 79 net) in last years Stagg Bowl came on 2 plays, two of 28 running plays in that game. I think you've been overly hyper-critical of the LB position group since the beginning of last year. Now you've started this year the same way - at least you're consistant. I get it, you don't like UWW's LB'ers. I thought they made a lot of improvements during the year and at the Stagg Bowl they were at their best.

The bolded I can certainly agree to. The rest is pure bobo.

[bleedpurple]

I don't know if it has been mentioned on here officially yet but UWW landed QB Cole Wilber from Dana Point, CA. Found this out back in February but was told to keep it out of the public but he has now made MANY public posts about it on his twitter account so the cat is long out of the bag. Got D2 offers, guess he's head and shoulders above anyone else UWW tried to commit so he should be a steal!

jedi,

When you said "...he's head and shoulders above anyone else..." I thought he was going to be about a 6'8" QB or something like that.

Turns out he's a 6'4" 205 lbs. pro-style QB according to 247sports. In his own words, "I'm a mobile quarterback with a very strong and accurate arm.  My goal is to attend a university that will challenge me both on the field and in the classroom." 

A quick search of some recruiting sites show that his only scholarship "offer" reported was by Northern Arizona, and he committed to the Lumberjacks on August 20, 2014. Something obvously happened to alter that commitment, I mean committing to a FCS scholarship school but later changing to UWW with no scholarship. Rivals.com indicates Colorado, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Wyoming were other schools showing interest in him (but no offers). Rivals rated him as a 2* prospect. A lot of 7v7  video on youtube in case you are interested in viewing and a hudl highlight reel. Seems to be a pass first, pocket QB but has mobility and throws well on the run, but it is a small, highlight only sample size. As you said, it appears to be true from some of the entries on his twitter. Looks excited to be coming to Wisconsin. Good for him. It looks like a solid get for the new coaching staff.  Hope he doesn't get homesick. Danny Jones had a tweet on there too, so could it be that he's somehow connected to this recruitment story? That would be great. Any insight on that, bleedpurple? 

I fully expect Chris Nelson to be the starter, but this certainly does make things interesting. Welcome to the Purple Nation Cole!!

Yes, Coach Bullis had Danny talk to Cole once he expressed interest in UW-W. He told him to tell him "The good, the bad, and the ugly of coming to UW-W from California".  He said he didn't want to give him a recruiting pitch. Coach wanted Cole to make as an informed decision as possible. The last thing UW-W needs is one of their 100 roster spots taken by a player who changes his mind.  Turns out Cole's interest was very real and both sides are very comfortable with one another.  On a side note, Cole's tape has been evaluated by numerous people very familiar with the QB position. He's the real deal.  Part of UW-W's evaluation of QB's is whether they can envision them winning a Championship down the road. The answer on Cole is a definite yes.  But Chris is the real deal, too. And probably no one other than players and coaches realize how good Gehant is as well. Not to mention the other QB's in the system who wouldn't be there if they didn't have talent. Curran from Sun Prairie comes to mind. He was on the roster last year as a freshman and pretty highly touted coming out of high school.  UW-W is not the place to be if you are not willing to compete for a job.   

[BoBo]

I don't know if it has been mentioned on here officially yet but UWW landed QB Cole Wilber from Dana Point, CA. Found this out back in February but was told to keep it out of the public but he has now made MANY public posts about it on his twitter account so the cat is long out of the bag. Got D2 offers, guess he's head and shoulders above anyone else UWW tried to commit so he should be a steal!

jedi,

When you said "...he's head and shoulders above anyone else..." I thought he was going to be about a 6'8" QB or something like that.

Turns out he's a 6'4" 205 lbs. pro-style QB according to 247sports. In his own words, "I'm a mobile quarterback with a very strong and accurate arm.  My goal is to attend a university that will challenge me both on the field and in the classroom." 

A quick search of some recruiting sites show that his only scholarship "offer" reported was by Northern Arizona, and he committed to the Lumberjacks on August 20, 2014. Something obvously happened to alter that commitment, I mean committing to a FCS scholarship school but later changing to UWW with no scholarship. Rivals.com indicates Colorado, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Wyoming were other schools showing interest in him (but no offers). Rivals rated him as a 2* prospect. A lot of 7v7  video on youtube in case you are interested in viewing and a hudl highlight reel. Seems to be a pass first, pocket QB but has mobility and throws well on the run, but it is a small, highlight only sample size. As you said, it appears to be true from some of the entries on his twitter. Looks excited to be coming to Wisconsin. Good for him. It looks like a solid get for the new coaching staff.  Hope he doesn't get homesick. Danny Jones had a tweet on there too, so could it be that he's somehow connected to this recruitment story? That would be great. Any insight on that, bleedpurple? 

I fully expect Chris Nelson to be the starter, but this certainly does make things interesting. Welcome to the Purple Nation Cole!!

Yes, Coach Bullis had Danny talk to Cole once he expressed interest in UW-W. He told him to tell him "The good, the bad, and the ugly of coming to UW-W from California".  He said he didn't want to give him a recruiting pitch. Coach wanted Cole to make as an informed decision as possible. The last thing UW-W needs is one of their 100 roster spots taken by a player who changes his mind.  Turns out Cole's interest was very real and both sides are very comfortable with one another.  On a side note, Cole's tape has been evaluated by numerous people very familiar with the QB position. He's the real deal.  Part of UW-W's evaluation of QB's is whether they can envision them winning a Championship down the road. The answer on Cole is a definite yes.  But Chris is the real deal, too. And probably no one other than players and coaches realize how good Gehant is as well. Not to mention the other QB's in the system who wouldn't be there if they didn't have talent. Curran from Sun Prairie comes to mind. He was on the roster last year as a freshman and pretty highly touted coming out of high school.  UW-W is not the place to be if you are not willing to compete for a job.

Thanks for your info bleed.  You certainly have your fingers on the pulse of this team. I had a feeling Danny Jones had a hand in this. Gotta give Coach Bullis a lot of credit in his approach to this recruitment. Many coaches who will be under the kind of constant scrutiny, by Warhawk fans (led by our man emma    ) as well as everyone else (whoever that guy is), to win, win early, and win a lot, this approach shows a lot of maturity for a first time HC. Many in his position would have taken the kid without too much thought involved. He's not thinking short term but sees the entire picture. Chris Nelson is going to be a very good QB to take over the reins; he's looked good in his limited playing time. UWW has had good success with transfers from our DII farm team in Marquette, Michigan (is that transfer safety from NMU?)

I was just reading a story about Scott Tolzien's development & progression on Badger247 sports written by Evan Flood.  He, too, was a consensus 2-star composite recruit who didn't get many looks as a HS senior. A little time and some good coaching and a lot of hard work can make these kids into something really special. Time will tell with this young man, but it's good to hear there's a lot of healthy competition on the roster and no real rush to get playing time.  I think of the kicker from Florida a few years back who simply couldn't handle taking over for a four year, record-breaking starter in Jeff Schebler and was gone about as quickly as he arrived.

BTW, wasn't there a QB a couple years ago from Northern Cal that came to UWW, but never made it out of preseason camp and went home? 

[bleedpurple]

The transfer safety is from one of the Minnesota schools. 

[bulk19]

Hu-rah! BoBo is BREAKING IT DOWN on U-dub-dub QBs...

But he can't DELIVER on the UWL QB stat challenge... 

Happy 4th of July everyone...

[bleedpurple]

I was just reading a story about Scott Tolzien's development & progression on Badger247 sports written by Evan Flood.

I know this isn't a basketball board, but...

This got me to thinking.  Is anyone aware off a player whose development and profile has accelerated more dramatically than Frank Kaminsky?  He was was not widely recruited when he came to Wisconsin (I think his only other Big 10 offer was Northwestern, and I'm pretty sure he was on their radar mostly because of family connections).  Four years late, he is the 9th pick in the NBA draft. Crazy!

[HSCTiger74]

I was just reading a story about Scott Tolzien's development & progression on Badger247 sports written by Evan Flood.

I know this isn't a basketball board, but...

This got me to thinking.  Is anyone aware off a player whose development and profile has accelerated more dramatically than Frank Kaminsky?  He was was not widely recruited when he came to Wisconsin (I think his only other Big 10 offer was Northwestern, and I'm pretty sure he was on their radar mostly because of family connections).  Four years later, he is the 9th pick in the NBA draft. Crazy!

  Given that Justise Winslow was still on the board a lot of Hornets fans are saying the same thing, only in more colorful language. 

[02 Warhawk]

Here's UWW's WR from last year (non-seniors):

Steve Street           6'5"   198
Clayton Bjornsen   6'1"   175
Ricky Finco           5'8"   185
Marcus Hudson   6'1"   207   
Coleton Hrgich      5'11"  190
Joe Worth           6'1"   212   
Ryan Storto           5'9"   173   
Jordan Zwart           6'2"   189   
Adam Korpela           6'1"   193   
Freddy Bobo           6'2"   185

Of course this list doesn't include any transfers/incoming freshman. I assume Worth, Finco and Hudson would be the main three, at least to start the season. There's some solid athletes here, but none really blow me away (from what I saw last year). However, I could be wrong and get surprised this season.

On a side note, I believe Hudson is McLin's cousin.

[badgerwarhawk]

http://footballscoop.com/news/the-26-strangest-mascots-in-small-college-football-and-one-outside-of-cfb-too-strange-to-ignore/

Does Eau Claire have a BluGold mascot?   

[02 Warhawk]

Meet Blu

[bulk19]

Meet Blu

In 2012 students/student senate voted on/approved the name Blu for that birdlike mascot that had been created, but Blu is not recognized as an official UWEC mascot. UWEC still has no official mascot.

[badgerwarhawk]

I thought they had done something but just couldn't remember the details.  Blu looks like a strong candidate for the list if it ever becomes the official mascot of the school. 

[bulk19]

BoBo -
Hey, here's a negative karma back at ya, skippy! 
How you coming on the UWL QB stat update? Break it down for us!

[bulk19]

I thought they had done something but just couldn't remember the details.  Blu looks like a strong candidate for the list if it ever becomes the official mascot of the school.

I'm getting dates mixed up here a bit, but here's a story about Blu, who became the mascot of the students/student body, as per a vote conducted by the student senate of students enrolled at the time... Faculty, friends of UWEC and alumni didn't participate, so Blu is not an official rep of the sports teams, on buildings/signs, or used in publications... I haven't been on campus or at a Blugold home sporting event since he was adopted, so I'm not sure if he exists...
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/Official_mascot_chosen_for_UWEC_student_body_122261539.html

Prior to this vote, the alumni office conducted a what-is-a-Blugold? written and logo/mascot artwork contest, and boiled those entries into three possiblities - a blue ox, no mascot, or a voyager creature... But nothing ever came of that idea/contest...
Here's the blue ox mascot, which came in first, over no mascot:
http://www.uwec.edu/alumni/e-view/2010/e-ViewMarch10.htm#top

They also began messing with the UWEC motto - Excellence, which is now rebranded to "The Power of And." You know, there are so many opportunities there = for example, you can be a science major AND a football player; a nursing student AND a student senator; a tuba player in the band AND music major...

Methinks we don't need no stinkin' mascot, and both ideas (for it, and the new motto) are dumb AND dumber...

This is more than you probably needed or wanted to know, but... Just don't ask me how I really feel. Ha. 

[badgerwarhawk]

That blue ox would have made the list for certain.