Game plan to defeat Wisconsin

[soybean]

Not looking for anymore tired attacks on KF, BF or KOK. Not asking for another boring rehash of the Purdue disaster. Not asking for any additional jabs against our current roster. Just asking a direct question...how would you use what we have to beat Wisconsin once again this year?

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Get takeaways within fg range. Also have to take multiple deep shots and hope to hit a few. You’re not nickel and diming your way down the field against this D. Wisconsin secondary isn’t the most disciplined, there will be opportunities, just have to hit them.

 

[Dargo]

Hope the defense scores. Hell, they give us a short field and we can’t even muster a field goal a lot of the time. Good thing the Wisconsin offense and qb are almost as bad as ours so that will at least keep it close.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

1. It starts up front on D, Iowa MUST stop the run. If Wisconsin is allowed to run the ball for 4-6 yards a pop or more consistently and have long time consuming drives then forget about it. I know it doesn’t fall in line consistently with what Iowa does, but they must sell out to stop the run.

After that we could go several directions. Turnovers, force Mertz to throw more than 10 times, more Johnson and Bruce on offense, etc…

 

[SotaHawk87]

Be more aggressive defensively deep in their territory. Too often it feels like we let teams move it 30 yards before putting the clamps on. Forcing punts from their own 30 and inside will be massive for field position. Iowa is going to need to 4 drive opportunities of 60 yards or less IMO to have a chance in this one. Cashing in on 2 would be massive.

 

[SotaHawk87]

1. It starts up front on D, Iowa MUST stop the run. If Wisconsin is allowed to run the ball for 4-6 yards a pop or more consistently and have long time consuming drives then forget about it. I know it doesn’t fall in line consistently with what Iowa does, but they must sell out to stop the run.

After that we could go several directions. Turnovers, force Mertz to throw more than 10 times, more Johnson and Bruce on offense, etc…

I think we’ll have our answer early as well.. if we’re forcing 3 and 6 instead of 3 and 2 in the first half I think we’ll be right there for the duration of the game..

 

[SotaHawk87]

Also I’d like us to throw quick outs to the WRs 4-5 times to supplement the run game. Outside zone will likely not work we need to figure out how to keep them honest on the outside even if it’s just a few times for 3-5 yards a pop.

 

[ICWestfan]

Score more points than Wisky. Iowa has to run the ball effectively, none of this TFL every other play. Make Mertz throw the ball. Stop the Wisky rush. Keep SP upright. Play the frosh at WR and move TT to slot in favor of NR.

 

[Rifler]

Stop the run and get out to an early lead...

 

[hexumhawk]

If we can block anyone for longer than two seconds we should probably win.

Also, if Wisconsin plans to run the ball all day, we also probably win.

 

[soybean]

Still waiting for a plan, not just hopes.

 

[Greenway4Prez]

Wisconsin’s defense is built to stop the outside zone. And they have the personnel to do this. We can’t stubbornly keep trying outside zone, so I hope we see more inside zone and runs designed to go to a specific gap with the FB lead blocking.

I would be really pleased to see an extra OL on the field. Not all the time, of course, but I feel like this could be a bye week adjustment that could help us out. One less receiver running routes, but extra protection for Spencer. We all know they love to blitz LB’s, so my thought here is that the 6th OL takes the place of relying on a RB or TE to stay in protection, and now we can slip Goodson out of the backfield to fill the void left by the attacking LB’s. Also, the added benefit of another blocker in the run game.

We need to get Keegan and Arland on the field more. They make plays. Wisconsin is susceptible to some deep shots, and I trust Keegan the most to be that guy. Dotson burned them a few times so the potential is there. Which is only possible if Petras has time, which brings us back to the extra OL thingy.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Counting on the D for multiple turnovers and either scoring or setting up scores that the offense has to move the ball little if at all. wisky knows that they can't count much on their O either, but given their improvement running the ball they will almost surely go that route as I doubt they trust mertz to do little beyond handing off.

Punting is winning needs to come up big for Iowa and on the opposite side they need to have a couple of returns for significant yardage to flip the field.

As for the Iowa O? Most important thing is to have impeccable ball security. No turnovers is ideal, but if there is one let's hope it's something like a deep pass that gets picked on 3rd and long and pins wisky making it essentially the equivalent of a good punt. I'd like to see them run straight ahead. Hell, maybe 3-4 qb sneaks. Play action pass that develops as quickly as possible.

 

[markfromj]

Hell, they give us a short field and we can’t even muster a field goal a lot of the time.

I bet this is statistically wrong.

 

[kcgolfer]

Sorry. No plan. Wisconsin is better in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Without a bunch of luck, I just don’t see a W here.

 

[David1979]

Not looking for anymore tired attacks on KF, BF or KOK. Not asking for another boring rehash of the Purdue disaster. Not asking for any additional jabs against our current roster. Just asking a direct question...how would you use what we have to beat Wisconsin once again this year?

Got to stop the run first of all and make Mertz pass it and force some turnovers. Got to win the field position battle and have a good day on special teams. On offense whatever you do, don't turn the ball over.

 

[TKingpin]

I have been wondering to myself what will Phil do if Wisky lines up with 7 OL instead of the traditional 5. I think you go with 6 DL, don’t you? Obviously there are 2 less WR/TE’s to cover.

Then what about the back 5? You shouldn’t need 2 safeties ands 2 CB’s. I probably have one safety back, 2 CB’s, Campbell and Benson to fill or shoot the gaps. Safety has to be a hitter and good enough to cover Ferguson if he sneaks out.

With 7 OL, the 2 CB’s would have to be on an island, but Wisconsin only threw the ball 8 times last week. You absolutely need to stop the running game.

I like the 6 DL, Benson & Campbell all in the box. Koerner playing a shallow safety and acting a lot like a LB to spy the tailback.

I there is only 1 WR, then the opposite side CB lines up outside the last OL on the LOS and crashes down the line, like PSU did, to maybe catch the RB in the backfield while he is waiting for the hole to develop. Now if Mertz doesn’t hand it off, that crashing CB goes straight for Mertz and forces him to get rid of it before he wants to.

I think it will be along day if we ask the 4 DL and 3 LB to stop the run against 7 OL ( and possibly a fullback).

 

[Birky]

I bet this is statistically wrong.

Depending on the definition of short, I bet it is. The number of times Iowa has gotten the ball and only needed a first down to kick a field goal, only to fail, has to be worse than damn near every team in the nation since forever.

The good news is that this year’s defense has often gotten them the ball in position to score, even without moving the ball.

 

[bman546]

A game plan that is about execution is just about execution... Such as stop their run game, pressure their QB, create turnovers... A game plan is more like, bracket David Bell, have lb shadow Plummer because you know he isn't going to pass... Iowa has to stick to the run game and not abandon it...

So, with Wisconsin, the best I can come up with is focus on manning the box to stop their run game and force them to pass. If you can't stop their run game with 8 in the box, you're going to lose to Wisconsin anyway. I would rather force Wisconsin to try and win the game through the air. Force them to hinge their their success in the game on Mertz.

 

[mlb1399]

1. Stop the run
2. Force 1-2 turnovers
3. No turnovers

I think we need to be +1-2 to even have a chance against them. Our offense isn’t going to be able to do much so we’ll need those turnovers for some field position and/or easy FG’s/points

I’m expecting a 17-14 type of game.

 

[herky97]

Refer to Ohio State game plan from Nov 4, 2017. We have to come out of our comfort zone a bit and pass the ball downfield. Use that to open up the run. If we hammer the run, we will likely get stuffed for the most part against a very stout and talented defensive front and linebacker crew. The cycle of being put into long 3rd downs; and specifically 3rd downs where they know we are passing—probably won’t work well.

I am clearly not a coach and I am not an offensive coordinator; but Wisconsin’s weakness is their secondary. We have to attack that on early downs more than we have in order to open up the run.

Aggressive play is the only way we win this game without getting turnovers.

Now to do that—our line has to protect….

 

[NCHawkeye24]

I agree. I don't think we can play this one close and conservative and expect that the outcome goes our way. I think there is a much greater chance that Wisconsin runs it on us than us running it on them. I don't think we can expect turnovers here because Chryst has decided to take the air out of the ball and pummel opponents on the ground. Mertz threw 8 times against Purdue. If we try to play field position, try to get turnovers, shorten the game and run the ball I think we lose.

I think we have to go off-schedule and throw deep, especially on first down. Iowa State is very similar to Wisconsin and we need to do what worked against them in that second quarter. If we can get up 2 scores, we may then be able to make Mertz throw and that is what we want.

 

[jonesy5960]

Put on red jerseys to confuse the Wisky defense?

 

[Mountain Man Hawk]

I know everyone is negative right now, but Wisconsin is a flawed team too, with 3 losses to show for it. They have even less ability to throw the ball than we do, so if we can sell out to stop the run then we can hopefully force them into attempting some passes.

I’m assuming Wisconsin’s game plan is to establish the run and avoid turnovers. If they can get away with it, they want Mertz to attempt less than 10 passes for the entire game and take no unnecessary risks throwing the ball. If everyone in the stadium knows it’s going to be a run almost every time, and we are confident in our corners covering their WRs for the handful of times they actually do throw the ball, then we should be able to really limit the number of points they score.

We just need to avoid turnovers. This Wisconsin team is a lot like us, if you don’t turn the ball over and give them short fields, they are going to struggle to score. Also if we could actually jump out to a lead and force them to play from behind, they’ve shown no ability to do that.