Like many of you, I thought Matt VandeBerg catching punts was gong to be an upgrade. Well, as you know from the Wisconsin game, he made a horrible mistake that cost us big time.
From HawkCentral:
Punting is losing for Iowa
We know the offense stunk Saturday. And as 247 Wisconsin rushing yards would attest, the Iowa defense was not without fault.
But that defense continued to give Iowa chances at momentum, with Jackson’s forced fumble of Jonathan Taylor (and a Rugamba recovery) giving the Hawkeyes the ball at their own 49 and trailing just 10-7 late in the first half.
From that moment forward, Iowa’s offense had two possessions and its defense gave up three yards on three plays. Yet Wisconsin still flipped field position 24 yards in its favor thanks to poor Hawkeye special teams. What happened?
Bad punt: After a three-and-out (shock), Colten Rastetter hit a terrible 21-yard punt that was downed at Wisconsin’s 27. Iowa needed a high kick to pin the Badgers at their own 10, at least.
Bad judgment: After Brady Reiff’s sack, Wisconsin was punting from its own 30. Return man Matt VandeBerg stood at his own 26, on the left hash. Anthony Lotti’s kick went that direction, yet VandeBerg for some reason couldn’t get to the ball that landed at the 32 — and rolled an additional 24 yards to the Iowa 8. What should’ve been a 38-yard punt was 62.
Bad situation: After Stanley was sacked, Rastetter had to punt from the back of his end zone. With the snap coming from the 1, Iowa understandably went into maximum protection. Rastetter’s punt traveled 45 yards, but with no gunners downfield, Wisconsin’s Nick Nelson whizzed past late-arriving tacklers to Iowa’s 26.
Three plays after that three-punt sequence, Wisconsin scored to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.
Bottom line: Two Iowa punts netted 47 yards while one Wisconsin punt netted 62.
That trade-off can’t happen, and — much like Iowa’s performance Saturday — there’s plenty of blame to go around.
LINK: http://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sp...consin-loss-noah-fant-nate-stanley/857643001/
From HawkCentral:
Punting is losing for Iowa
We know the offense stunk Saturday. And as 247 Wisconsin rushing yards would attest, the Iowa defense was not without fault.
But that defense continued to give Iowa chances at momentum, with Jackson’s forced fumble of Jonathan Taylor (and a Rugamba recovery) giving the Hawkeyes the ball at their own 49 and trailing just 10-7 late in the first half.
From that moment forward, Iowa’s offense had two possessions and its defense gave up three yards on three plays. Yet Wisconsin still flipped field position 24 yards in its favor thanks to poor Hawkeye special teams. What happened?
Bad punt: After a three-and-out (shock), Colten Rastetter hit a terrible 21-yard punt that was downed at Wisconsin’s 27. Iowa needed a high kick to pin the Badgers at their own 10, at least.
Bad judgment: After Brady Reiff’s sack, Wisconsin was punting from its own 30. Return man Matt VandeBerg stood at his own 26, on the left hash. Anthony Lotti’s kick went that direction, yet VandeBerg for some reason couldn’t get to the ball that landed at the 32 — and rolled an additional 24 yards to the Iowa 8. What should’ve been a 38-yard punt was 62.
Bad situation: After Stanley was sacked, Rastetter had to punt from the back of his end zone. With the snap coming from the 1, Iowa understandably went into maximum protection. Rastetter’s punt traveled 45 yards, but with no gunners downfield, Wisconsin’s Nick Nelson whizzed past late-arriving tacklers to Iowa’s 26.
Three plays after that three-punt sequence, Wisconsin scored to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.
Bottom line: Two Iowa punts netted 47 yards while one Wisconsin punt netted 62.
That trade-off can’t happen, and — much like Iowa’s performance Saturday — there’s plenty of blame to go around.
LINK: http://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sp...consin-loss-noah-fant-nate-stanley/857643001/
