Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - December 27, 2012

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

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���But with repetition we���re able to get it and master it. Really it���s just more memorization ��� knowing what you���re going to be doing on what play and who���s going where, that kind of stuff. It���s not too bad.������ But it takes time and patience. ���It���s the reps, they do it again and again,������ Faulkner said. ���We marry a lot of them (shifts or motions) so that some of the trades we do are out of the same formations. After a certain point, it is memorization. Like I said earlier, I just have great kids who know what they���re doing. ���You just couldn���t go anywhere and put in all of these shifts and trades. They mess it up sometimes. But in practice I sit back and let them figure it out. You can see that they���re thinking and any minute it will click. I do that because in a game ���as a coach ��� you can���t be out there for them.������ While the Badgers may play a ���thinking man���s game������ with their tight ends, Stanford���s defense poses the ultimate test because of its moving parts. The Cardinal will routinely line up in a 3-4 front, but their outside linebackers, Chase Thomas or Trent Murphy, can shift to defensive end and make it a 4-3. Thomas, a 6-foot-4, 248-pound senior, is Stanford���s second-leading tackler. He has 14.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Murphy, a 6-6, 261-pound junior, leads the defense with 18 TFLs and 10 sacks. Shayne Skov, the leading tackler, and A.J. Tarpley, who rotates with James Vaughters, round out the linebacking corps. Stanford���s 3-4 is an attacking one-gap system that was originally installed for Jim Harbaugh by Vic Fangio, who���s now calling defensive signals for Harbaugh with the San Francisco 49ers. Fangio���s system has been linked to Dom Capers, the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. ���The strength of their defense is the front seven, and it starts with those four linebackers,������ said Oregon coach Chip Kelly. ���They���re big, they can run, they���re smart and they understand their scheme really well. They���re as good a group of linebackers as we���ll play.������ Much to his own chagrin, Kelly was spot-on with his pregame assessment. Stanford went on the road and knocked off No. 1-ranked Oregon, 17-14, in overtime. Although the Ducks rushed for 198 yards, they come up short on third down (4-of-17) and fourth down (0-of-2) against the Cardinal. ���They���ve got kind of an old-school mindset,������ Wozniak said of the Cardinal.���They have some nasty linebackers. But, then, we have some nasty linebackers. They have some athletic D-ends. We do, too. They���re a smart defense so it should be a fun challenge because we consider ourselves a smart offense.������ Who will outsmart who? Stay tuned. 45

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