Spotlight #1: Wisconsin G Kevin Zeitler

Spotlight #2: Illinois RB Jason Ford 

1^st quarter

6:13: Ford bounces to the outside for 6 yards.

5:02: Ford with a 5 yard run.

2:10: Ford takes a handoff on a draw, converts 3^rd and 3.

1:37: Ford with a lot of room from a draw, looked slow picking up just 2, bounces off of one guy, but the 2^nd guy brought him down with ease.

2^nd quarter

14:48: Ford catches one in the flat, bounces off a tackle, but ends up being brought down by several guys for a loss. Had he gone down on first contact, he could have gained a couple.

13:48: Ford hits the hole with no burst or effort, stuffed at the line.

11:30: Whitney Mercilus with a sack fumble, giving him 13.5 sacks on the season.

8:11: Zeitler with a nice pull block to open up a hole for Montee Ball.

3:30: Zeitler gets a good push on the goal line.

2:55: Zeitler pulls well on the goal line, opens up just a little space for Ball and it’s enough for the touchdown.

1:26: Ford with a nice first down run on first down, breaks a few tackles with a nice cut and a couple spin moves and then pushes a big pile for the first.

1:08: Ford with a few after a cutback, needs two guys to bring him down, but still looks slow.

0:52: Ford with a nice pass block.

0:32: Jenkins has a 15 yard touchdown called back by a penalty.

0:06: Jenkins has another catch and near touchdown brought back by a penalty. He’s not catching any breaks. Neither of these penalties have really affected the play and both were borderline at best.

 

3^rd quarter

12:14: Zeitler could have done better on a pull block on 3^rd and short. No conversion.

11:33: Zeitler with a better block on 4^th and short, converted.

11:01: Zeitler plows open a huge hole for Ball, 9 yards.

9:34: Zeitler again with not the best block on 3^rd and short.

9:02: Zeitler bounces back again on 4^th and short, Ball runs behind him and converts it.

6:41: Illinois’ quarterback throws a pick on an underthrow to AJ Jenkins. Jenkins did have his man beat, but he needs to do a better job of coming back to that ball. Antonio Fenelus gets the pick, his 4^th on the year after 4 last season. The 5-9 190 pound cornerback could get drafted late as a depth cornerback.

2:54: Ford pushes up the middle for a few, strong pile drag.

1:12: Zeitler helps plow open a big hole.

0:26: Ball runs behind Zeitler for 34 yards.

4^th quarter

14:14: Fenelus deflects a pass, Jenkins gets a hand on it and Wisconsin safety Aaron Henry eventually picks it off.

13:28: Zeitler with a nice pull block, Ball runs behind him for a good gain. Wisconsin’s offense in general has gotten stronger as the game has gone on, both their offensive line blocking and Montee Ball running the ball.

12:12: Ball with his 30^th rushing/receiving touchdown on the year, the 5^th player in NCAA history to achieve that feat.

10:57: Ford catches one for a few out of the backfield.

9:55: Ford catches a shovel pass, doesn’t fall forward for the first, stuffed, failed conversion.

2:33: Zeitler with a holding penalty to wipe out a sizeable gain by Montee Ball.

1:25: Zeitler pancakes a guy, allowing another huge run by Montee Ball.

0:00: Arguably this game could have been Kevin Zeitler’s biggest test of the season, at least so far, because it was his first game without stud center Peter Konz next to him. Konz, a borderline first round prospect at center, missed this game with a dislocated ankle and could miss more. As unfortunate as that injury was, this game allowed Zeitler to show that it wasn’t just Konz up front and that he did.

It took him a little bit to get started, but Zeitler really got going from about the 2^nd quarter on. Wisconsin was constantly running behind him, whether to the right side behind him at right guard, or to the left side behind Zeitler, who had several excellent pull blocks. Behind him, Montee Ball rushed for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns on 38 carries, and added a 3^rd touchdown through the air.

This was also a great game for Ball, who worked towards shedding some of the concerns that maybe he was just a system back. With inconsistencies at center for the first time all season (they had to switch centers mid game), Ball still managed to have a huge game and in the process became just the 5^th first in NCAA history to have 30+ rushing/receiving touchdowns in a season. With up to 3 games left (Penn State, possible Big 10 Championship, Bowl Game), Ball still has an outside shot at breaking Barry Sanders’ single season record of 39 touchdowns.

Even more impressive for Ball was how he literally carried the load in this one. Wisconsin ran 45 times to 13 throws and backup James White only had 1 carry. Including 2 receptions, Ball touched the ball on 40 of Wisconsin’s 58 offensive plays tonight and he only got stronger as the game went on. Considering he was missing his best run blocking offensive lineman, this was an incredibly impressive performance that could separate Ball from guys like Lamar Miller and Chris Polk as he fights to be the #2 back behind Trent Richardson in this draft class.

Speaking of the large disparity in runs to passes, this game really didn’t give anyone a good feel for Russell Wilson. Wilson went 10 of 13 for 90 yards and that one touchdown to Montee Ball. I have him rated higher than most. Even at his size, he has a good, strong arm and his arm angle and release point will prevent him from getting a lot of balls batted at the line at the next level. He’s got great character and intangibles and he’s also a running threat. I had a 4^th round grade on him coming into this one (not an elite prospect, but there’s enough to work with), and this game doesn’t affect my view of him either way.

Wilson’s top target was Nick Toon, as it has been for most of the season. Despite the conservative game plan, Toon still caught 6 passes for 67 yards (more than 50% of Wisconsin’s completions and yards). He looked much healthier than he had in recent games. Injury concerns are going to be a problem, but he has 47 catches for 748 yards and 8 touchdowns in 10 games for a conservative offense this year and that’s while dealing with injuries. He’s a physical presence at 6-3 220 and a great run blocker as well. He could go between early and late day 2 depending on how his physicals and individual workouts go before draft day.

On the Illinois side, their top draft prospect is Whitney Mercilus. The junior defensive end has come out to nowhere to lead the country in sacks and now has 13.5 sacks after a sack fumble today. However, because Wisconsin didn’t pass very much at all, we didn’t get a good chance to see all that Mercilus had. He was a non-factor for most of the game and that could hurt him a bad. Even at 6-3 265, he still needs to add more functional strength against the run if he is going to get serious looks as a 4-3 defensive end.

The one year wonder looks like primarily a 3-4 outside linebacker prospect in the late first round range. If he comes back, has another good year and gets stronger, he could be a top 10 or top 5 pick in 2013. It’s worth noting his sack did not come against Ricky Wagner. Wagner, Wisconsin’s left tackle, would be a day 2 pick should he come out this year, but Wisconsin players rarely declare early and considering he only has one year of experience on the left side, he’d be best served returning for his senior season. If he does that and plays well, he could follow former Wisconsin left tackles Joe Thomas (2004-2007) and Gabe Carimi (2008-2010) into the first round of the NFL draft in 2013.

AJ Jenkins is the other highly rated pro prospect on Illinois’ offense. After a hot start to the season, he’s cooled off a bit in recent weeks as Illinois’ is now on a 5 game losing streak after starting 6-0. Including this game, Jenkins has 34 catches for 351 yards and no touchdowns in the 5 losses and 46 catches for 815 yards and 7 touchdowns in Illinois’ 6 wins.

Tonight, Jenkins had just 4 catches for 31 yards, but he had two good gains and a touchdown wiped out by stupid penalties. He showed good moves in the open field and good athleticism as Illinois did a good job of getting him the ball out of the backfield as well. He carried the ball 3 times for 13 yards and looked good doing it. The 6-1 195 pounder looks like a 3^rd or 4^th round as a slot receiver at the next level.

The spotlighted player on Illinois’ side was Jacob Ford. Ford had a few good plays, but also some not so good plays. He’s not particularly fast and could run a very poor 40 time. The 6-1 235 pounder is tough to bring down and he did rush 8 times for 39 yards, along with 3 catches for 7 yards, but he’s not particularly explosive. He had a good game against Penn State, but overall his season hasn’t been that great with now 557 yards and 8 scores on 144 carries with 17 catches for 132 yards. He looks like he’s not going to get drafted and his chances of catching on as a productive runner as an undrafted free agent aren’t that great in my opinion, though we’ve seen guys do so before.