College Football Week 1 - Wisconsin vs. UNLV

Over the last few days, I've had some computer "issues," to say the least. I was planning on writing about a bunch of my thoughts on the first week of college football action, as well as a separate post about my alma mater, the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers post will be a weekly thing, just like I've been doing with Tottenham.
Since I'm kind of late, I'm going to condense this post to a few quick thoughts about about the first week of college football, with an emphasis on the Wisconsin game.

- Denard Robinson looks like a budding star in Rich Rodriguez's offense. However, if he doesn't learn to slide or lower his should and absorb hits, he'll be injured by the sixth week of the season.
- Florida will solve their issues under center, but expect three to four losses from them this year. And what was up with the lack of emotion from Urban Meyer on the sidelines? Is he just trying to keep his blood pressure low early in the season? Or possibly experiencing post-Tebow break up depression?
- I didn't watch that Oregon game, but any time a team wins 72-0, they're trying to send a message that they deserve to be discussed with the nation's elite.
- Look for TCU to deliver their second straight undefeated regular season after defeating Oregon State's high powered offense. TCU's biggest obstacle to perfection will be on November 6th, when they visit Utah.
- Jacksonville State true freshman quarterback Coty Blanchard's perfect 30 yard strike to Kevyn Cooper on 4th and 15 in double overtime and the two point conversion that followed will go down as a top 10 moment of the 2010-11 college football season.

Initially, I didn't know how to feel about a Badger game broadcasted on Versus. To my knowledge, Versus only broadcasts hockey and auto racing. Before the game, they were showing former college football sideline reporter Jack Arute cheesing it up with a member of a pit crew, and at that point, it was safe to say that I was worried about the quality of this broadcast.
My fears were confirmed when the announcers opened the broadcast yelling. They continued yelling well into the first quarter. I understand, they're unknown announcers and are trying to make a name for themselves. Everything they've been taught about announcing is that they have to sound passionate and exciting, and they took it over the top a little. Fortunately, as the game wore on, I either suffered a slight hearing loss and became accustomed to them, or they toned it down.
Wisconsin's first possession of the game displayed the type of football they'll be looking to play all season. Run the ball, control time of possession, and wear the defense down. They did all of that en route to the first touchdown of the game.
While it's still early to speculate, it's not a stretch to say that the Badgers run game could be second in the nation next to Alabama's. They have John Clay (who is looking more and more like Ron Dayne) to pound the ball on first to third down, Montee Ball can also run between the tackles and is a better receiver out of the backfield than Clay. Add in the speed of freshman James White, and you have 266 rushing yards, and one of the most versatile backfields in college football. Not to mention, an NFL-sized offensive line blocking for them.
When you have a dominant running game going up against an overmatched defense, the passing game tends to be underused. Such was the case in Las Vegas.
I've always thought quarterback Scott Tolzien is underrated. Despite his size, he has a surprisingly strong and accurate arm. He also has a few speedy receivers to work with that will allow them to run a barrage of reverses, slants, and go routes to keep defenses on their toes.
Wisconsin has a legitimate shot at the Rose Bowl this year. There's only two things I think that could possibly hold them back.
1) Turnovers. We saw this in the UNLV game. Two turnovers led to 14 points. Wisconsin was up by only 3 at halftime despite dominating the game. The first turnover was a pick 6 from Tolzien, and the second was a fumble in the red zone from Nick Toon that UNLV returned 82 yards to set up a touchdown pass. In Big Ten play, these type of turnovers will cost them games.
2) The Secondary. I'm really worried about this secondary. Thankfully, the front 7 is excellent and should get plenty of pressure over the course of the season. They're going to need to because Wisconsin's defensive backs won't be successful out on an island for long. Our safeties aren't exactly stellar either. Jay Valai is a big hitter that can stop the run, but his coverage skills leave something to be desired. Aaron Henry is playing safety because he failed as a defensive back.
Overall, it was a good first game. I look for Wisconsin to limit their turnovers and get tight end Lance Kendricks more involved in the offense next week.