Love knowing the DL will be fresh in the 4th

[HawkNole09]

We just have to fly around and make plays the first half. Look forward to the grind.

And on the other side target Fant like 13 times. I don’t think Bucky’s got anyone who can cover him.

 

[Harbinger273]

DL will be Fresh and Stunna for the game Saturday! I'm already envisioning the victory celebration! Yes I know it won't be easy, but so does this Iowa squad and they have what it takes to bring bucky down.

 

[Hawkfan5220]

We just have to fly around and make plays the first half. Look forward to the grind.

And on the other side target Fant like 13 times. I don’t think Bucky’s got anyone who can cover him.

I like your optimism, but they didn't have a problem last year. Hard to target Fant if Stanley doesn't have time to throw.

 

[Kurt Warner]

Me likes what you're sellin

 

[iowa surfer]

We just have to fly around and make plays the first half. Look forward to the grind.

And on the other side target Fant like 13 times. I don’t think Bucky’s got anyone who can cover him.

Yes.... Fant Playmaker... He will help Crack the "COMING" box.. Go Hawks!

 

[mazda1]

Unless the o line starts to look like an Iowa line we are in real trouble. I haven’t seen much reason to be optimistic. Prove me wrong o line. Please!

 

[Kinnick.At.Night]

Depth is what makes good teams great.

 

[nu2u]

And on the other side target Fant like 13 times. I don’t think Bucky’s got anyone who can cover him.

I'm with those analysts who believe that Wisconsin will prioritize pass coverage to take Fant out of Iowa's offense as much as possible. They will have more than one set of eyes on him, jam him as much as possible on the LOS, disguise coverage, safeties will hedge toward his side, etc. The good news is that this strategy will open up opportunities for Easley, Smth-Marsette and especially Hockenson who is also elusive with arguably better hands than Fant. I'm looking for 5-6 catches for TJ and at least one TD.

 

[HawkNole09]

I think the UNI game was a warning shot.

You better gameplan to stop Fant. And frankly I don’t see how that’s going to work.

You can’t really press a guy with his size and speed off the line. Putting him in motion pretty much negates any attempt to slow him off the line.

I think they would be smart to play a safety over the top, but that’s just going to open up more space for Hockenson and Easley.

Wisconsin’s best bet is to blitz, hope we don’t block any better than last year, and look to strip Stanley. And I hope our counter is to hit Sargent in the flats early and often. I want to see their OLB tackle in space.

 

[ctghawk]

I have been dreaming of an 8 man rotation on the DL for 15 years!

 

[Hawkfan_08]

I have been dreaming of an 8 man rotation on the DL for 15 years!

The great thing is they can all play. There doesn't seem to be much, if any, drop off between 1st and 2nd team guys.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I think the UNI game was a warning shot.

You better gameplan to stop Fant. And frankly I don’t see how that’s going to work.

You can’t really press a guy with his size and speed off the line. Putting him in motion pretty much negates any attempt to slow him off the line.

I think they would be smart to play a safety over the top, but that’s just going to open up more space for Hockenson and Easley.

Wisconsin’s best bet is to blitz, hope we don’t block any better than last year, and look to strip Stanley. And I hope our counter is to hit Sargent in the flats early and often. I want to see their OLB tackle in space.

Last year they didn't allow Iowa's TEs to get clean releases ... and then they brought enough heat to force Stanley into making VERY quick decisions.

Have you noticed that the Iowa D has returned to using more standing fronts on 3rd downs, albeit with 4 guys on the LOS (as compared to 3 from a few years back)? I think that has been explicitly re-implemented by the Hawk D in order to prep the Iowa OL for handling pressure coming though just about any gap. It was probably so effective for the D that Phil decided to add it to our defensive arsenal. The bigger hope, however, is that the Iowa OL will be better equipped to protect Stanley long enough so that we can exploit Wisconsin with the pass.

I also expect a lot of seam routes ... in order to exploit the soft-spots in Wisconsin's coverage ... that way Stanley will aways have an idea of where he can go with the ball if things otherwise break down.

Another thing that absolutely killed Iowa last year was the field-position battle. If we can enjoy better field position ... and have the Badgers REALLY feel the hostile environment of KInnick ... then that could go a long ways to helping the Hawks too.

Iowa fans like to play up how bad the Hawks looked on O ... but if you remember how bad our field-position was in that game ... we had our hands tied behind our backs for part of the time. That makes moving the ball that much harder. When you add the turnovers towards the end of the game ... that was finally enough to break things open for the Badgers.

 

[anon_gjzkhykcp9iuj]

The Wisconsin D is not what they were last year, still good, but not close to that D. That will make a difference, in a positive way of course.

We need to use presnap motion. Get the Wiscy LBs to move and clue the O in on who is going to rush and who isn't.

 

[Rifler]

Regarding the Wisconsin D, here are some comments from a Badger poster in another thread here.....

"The starting DEs for UW last year were Conor Sheehy and Alec James. Both of those guys graduated. The second string DEs were Chikwe Obasih and Isaiahh Loudermilk. Obasih graduated, while Loudermilk is just back from knee surgery. The third string DEs were Garrett Rand and Billy Hirschfeld. Rand tore his achilles over the summer and Hirschfeld quit football to pursue a career in journalism.
Basically UW only has one of their top 6 DEs from last year, and that one is still getting back into shape from surgery. The DE rotation currently consists of Loudermilk, a walk-on redshirt freshman in Matt Henningsen, and a redshirt freshman that was on the offensive line until fall camp in Kayden Lyles. Both Henningsen and Lyles need more seasoning in the weight room and on the field before they can be consistent run stuffers."

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Regarding the Wisconsin D, here are some comments from a Badger poster in another thread here.....

"The starting DEs for UW last year were Conor Sheehy and Alec James. Both of those guys graduated. The second string DEs were Chikwe Obasih and Isaiahh Loudermilk. Obasih graduated, while Loudermilk is just back from knee surgery. The third string DEs were Garrett Rand and Billy Hirschfeld. Rand tore his achilles over the summer and Hirschfeld quit football to pursue a career in journalism.
Basically UW only has one of their top 6 DEs from last year, and that one is still getting back into shape from surgery. The DE rotation currently consists of Loudermilk, a walk-on redshirt freshman in Matt Henningsen, and a redshirt freshman that was on the offensive line until fall camp in Kayden Lyles. Both Henningsen and Lyles need more seasoning in the weight room and on the field before they can be consistent run stuffers."

Interesting stuff ... thanks for the contribution!

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I have been dreaming of an 8 man rotation on the DL for 15 years!

Yeah, for the longest time, the best we could do was a 6-man rotation. However, even then, given our bend-but-not-break philosophy on D ... guys would get gassed after seeing so many snaps. Given how things have transpired in the first 3 games - the most snaps the D has faced were 62 vs NIU .... so part of the difficulty now is managing the rotation.

What's cool is not just that we have a 8 man rotation ... it's that the different guys bring different attributes to the table ... and that there are so many guys who are capable of being productive!

 

[Johnsoda123]

Regarding the Wisconsin D, here are some comments from a Badger poster in another thread here.....

"The starting DEs for UW last year were Conor Sheehy and Alec James. Both of those guys graduated. The second string DEs were Chikwe Obasih and Isaiahh Loudermilk. Obasih graduated, while Loudermilk is just back from knee surgery. The third string DEs were Garrett Rand and Billy Hirschfeld. Rand tore his achilles over the summer and Hirschfeld quit football to pursue a career in journalism.
Basically UW only has one of their top 6 DEs from last year, and that one is still getting back into shape from surgery. The DE rotation currently consists of Loudermilk, a walk-on redshirt freshman in Matt Henningsen, and a redshirt freshman that was on the offensive line until fall camp in Kayden Lyles. Both Henningsen and Lyles need more seasoning in the weight room and on the field before they can be consistent run stuffers."

Plus three of their starting DBs were drafted.

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Plus three of their starting DBs were drafted.

Plus they lost their stud OLB coach, Tim Tibesar.

 

[Melrose_Place31]

We just have to fly around and make plays the first half. Look forward to the grind.

And on the other side target Fant like 13 times. I don’t think Bucky’s got anyone who can cover him.

I watched Wisconsin's secondary get tore up all day....LBs missed reads and were no where near the ball at times. With our three RBs, we can have fresh legs on the field at all times and play pitch and catch all day and be fine I think.

 

[hawkster03]

If Van Ginkel is out that will be a huge loss to an already inexperienced defense.