Obviously, the outcome sucked donkey balls for Iowa fans like me.
But that may have been the most exciting football game I've seen in person, in terms of back and forth scoring, and thinking one team had the game wrapped up, then the other, then a sliver of hope, then that hope extinguished.
One of my biggest pet peeves about college football fans is when their team loses, they never seem able to stop focusing on what their team did poorly and mistakes made (and there were plenty of those for Iowa) but never acknowledge the amazing plays the opponent made. Therefore, I wanted to comment on a couple of the things the Badgers did that really impressed me. I don't have names for all of the players because I watched the game from the stands and was too depressed to re-watch on video yet, but here goes:
The play that ensured victory for UW was that trip-up sack of Stanzi on the last minute drive. A lot of Iowa plans are giving Stanzi a hard time for not throwing that ball away, but we've seen him high step out of those types of tackles over and over and over. That Badger player was not going to be denied, just scrambling along the ground to get a paw on Stanzi's ankle. If Iowa doesn't take that sack, I think they at the very least had a shot at a longish field goal to win it. No guarantee --- but still.
The fake punt. I love KF, I think he's the best coach for Iowa one can have. But one thing that bugs me about him is he seems to have picked up exactly 0 percent of Hayden Fry's old riverboat gambler mentality. What is fascinating about Bielema is that for 95 percent of the time, he too, is cautious and coservative. But that fake punt was vintage Fry-style gambling. Not to mention the fact I think he had been setting it up for the right moment for quite some time. Then the players executed it to perfection, kudos.
Tolzien on Wisconsin's last touchdown drive. I'll admit, I didn't think Tolzien would have the moxie to keep the chains moving in that type of environment after he'd given up the interception to Greenwood. But he stayed calm and cool and took what the defense (and Iowa's coverage-challenged linebackers) gave him. Very impressed.
One thing I will say about this game is that it sure didn't look to me like one team was flat out better than the other. Maybe it did to some of you. But I thought Iowa did a reasonably good job of limiting the damage Clay inflicted and also exposed some deficiencies in the Wisconsin defense, especially the secondary. On the other hand, Wisconsin showed that while Iowa has a very good defense, it is not elite as some had said. The D-line could not get pressure when it mattered and the linebackers were very poor in coverage.
If there was one glaring difference, it was special teams. Iowa's are a FUCKING TRAINWRECK. Missed assignment on extra point leading to the game-deciding one point difference on the blocked extra point, botched snap/hold on a field goal, lining up offsides and negating a stop inside the 20 only to give Gilreath another crack which led to a 50 yard return and subsequent touchdown drive, and of course, the lack of preparation to stop a fake punt at a point in the game where it should have been guarded against. If I recall correctly, our special teams coach was FIRED by Wisconsin, right? Looks like you guys had the right idea. KF is probably too loyal, but he should think about finding a replacement for that guy this off-season. Iowa is the kind of program that has to be at least solid on special teams to win big games, and all season they've been shaky at best and a complete goddamn travesty like Saturday and in Arizona at worst.
Good luck the rest of the season, although I obviously hope you drop at least one more game. And I assume you all will be cheering Iowa on Saturday as we try to de-rail Michigan State and bring back SPARTY, NO!
Next year in the title game? That would be epic.
But that may have been the most exciting football game I've seen in person, in terms of back and forth scoring, and thinking one team had the game wrapped up, then the other, then a sliver of hope, then that hope extinguished.
One of my biggest pet peeves about college football fans is when their team loses, they never seem able to stop focusing on what their team did poorly and mistakes made (and there were plenty of those for Iowa) but never acknowledge the amazing plays the opponent made. Therefore, I wanted to comment on a couple of the things the Badgers did that really impressed me. I don't have names for all of the players because I watched the game from the stands and was too depressed to re-watch on video yet, but here goes:
The play that ensured victory for UW was that trip-up sack of Stanzi on the last minute drive. A lot of Iowa plans are giving Stanzi a hard time for not throwing that ball away, but we've seen him high step out of those types of tackles over and over and over. That Badger player was not going to be denied, just scrambling along the ground to get a paw on Stanzi's ankle. If Iowa doesn't take that sack, I think they at the very least had a shot at a longish field goal to win it. No guarantee --- but still.
The fake punt. I love KF, I think he's the best coach for Iowa one can have. But one thing that bugs me about him is he seems to have picked up exactly 0 percent of Hayden Fry's old riverboat gambler mentality. What is fascinating about Bielema is that for 95 percent of the time, he too, is cautious and coservative. But that fake punt was vintage Fry-style gambling. Not to mention the fact I think he had been setting it up for the right moment for quite some time. Then the players executed it to perfection, kudos.
Tolzien on Wisconsin's last touchdown drive. I'll admit, I didn't think Tolzien would have the moxie to keep the chains moving in that type of environment after he'd given up the interception to Greenwood. But he stayed calm and cool and took what the defense (and Iowa's coverage-challenged linebackers) gave him. Very impressed.
One thing I will say about this game is that it sure didn't look to me like one team was flat out better than the other. Maybe it did to some of you. But I thought Iowa did a reasonably good job of limiting the damage Clay inflicted and also exposed some deficiencies in the Wisconsin defense, especially the secondary. On the other hand, Wisconsin showed that while Iowa has a very good defense, it is not elite as some had said. The D-line could not get pressure when it mattered and the linebackers were very poor in coverage.
If there was one glaring difference, it was special teams. Iowa's are a FUCKING TRAINWRECK. Missed assignment on extra point leading to the game-deciding one point difference on the blocked extra point, botched snap/hold on a field goal, lining up offsides and negating a stop inside the 20 only to give Gilreath another crack which led to a 50 yard return and subsequent touchdown drive, and of course, the lack of preparation to stop a fake punt at a point in the game where it should have been guarded against. If I recall correctly, our special teams coach was FIRED by Wisconsin, right? Looks like you guys had the right idea. KF is probably too loyal, but he should think about finding a replacement for that guy this off-season. Iowa is the kind of program that has to be at least solid on special teams to win big games, and all season they've been shaky at best and a complete goddamn travesty like Saturday and in Arizona at worst.
Good luck the rest of the season, although I obviously hope you drop at least one more game. And I assume you all will be cheering Iowa on Saturday as we try to de-rail Michigan State and bring back SPARTY, NO!
Next year in the title game? That would be epic.
