So, what's the biggest concern? Offense or Defense come Saturday?

NEIChawk

NEIChawk

Well-Known Member
Does Iowa try and take away Gordon as much as possible, and try for Stave to beat us? Or does Iowa try and keep up with the amount of points that Wisconsin could score if Gordon runs crazy?

What's the lesser of two evils? As fans, which side of the ball do we have more confidence in?
 
Well the three games we lost is when the offense didnt really play well enough or I should say played poorly.

ISU , terrible only scoring 17 points against that team, should have won 45-20 even giving up the 20 points

Maryland- 9-10 three and outs after building a 14-0 lead, left the defense hanging the the defense didnt play great but geez the offense just needed to keep moving the ball and score a few times

And Minny, nice opening drive then a pick, several TOs by the offense and the door is shut by halftime with the defense trying to get out of there without any injuries until ooops Perry goes down on some last second play, that game was a turd.

The offense needs to find a way to move and hold the ball, and score, attack
 
If the offense is on the field then Gordon is not running for 500 yards. KF will go old school and try to have the ball as much as possible.
 
Look Gordon is gonna get his. We can slam 10 in the box and he is gonna go for 200. So I think we just need to keep pace on offense and sustain drives and keep the pedal down. We'd be foolish to kid ourselves into thinking our front 7 have a shot in the dark at stopping or even trying to contain Gordon. Have you not seen our linebacking corp? They might look good in practice tackling Wisman but Gordon has about 1 second on him in a 40 yard dash. I think you try and weather that storm and keep our offense on the field and try and wear them out in the fourth. Not sure we can do that but it sure sounds good typing it.
 
My biggest concern is Rudock. He needs everything to be right in order to have a chance to be successful and that doesn't happen against average defenses or better. For all this talk about him being a game manager he has turned the ball over at least once in 6 of the last 8 games.
 
It will be both. If Iowa is to win this game they must control the ball for extended periods and run a lot of clock. Gordon can't score from the bench. Defensively, the back 7 must have their best game of the year and gang tackle like there is no tomorrow...especially on the edges. That is the only way Iowa wins this game.
 
Both....but I'm inclined to say Iowa's offense as they will need to move the ball in this game and probably need to score more than they are acustomed to.

Also, if you win the toss, do you put your offense or defense on the field first?
 
Offense hands down.

See Illinois game where defense plays great holds Illini to 7 and game is in doubt into 3rd quarter. Their offense will score and we gotta out score them.
 
Offense, easily.
Wisconsin was minus Chris Borland, last year, and the defense set up the offense on the Wisconsin side of the field 3(?) times inside their 50, and all we could get is 6 points.
We also held Gordon to around 60 yards.
We lost 28-9, given those circumstances, and Wisconsin defense is better, and our offense feels worse this year.
 
My biggest concern is that their TE handles Nate Meier (a key to the game) and their tackle seals the inside linebacker, while their WR ties up the corner on that side, giving Melvin Gordon a one on one match up with our safeties...and we see that over and over again. We have to win the battle at defensive end and they have to close seams to the inside. Wisky lived in that gap against Nebraska and they couldn't stop it.
 
My biggest concern is if I was the Admiral of world biggest aircraft carrier is that each man is at their battle stations and focus on their job and pray nobody bombs the sh*t out of us. Same goes for the Hawkeyes! I hope each one are ready for your job here at HN and also on football field. Let's give the Badgers some he**. GO HAWKS!
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I'm not sure what kind of "look" Iowa could give Wisconsin to maybe confuse them....I feel our LB's/defensive backfield are going to have to play above their abilities to keep this close....They have huge lineman compared to our defensive line.....Going to be a fun game to watch and hopefully KF/Staff are up to the task of out-gaming the competition....I know, I know, we've not seen that concept out of Kirk & Co. in a while, but we can only pray come Saturday.....
 
NEIChawk said:
I'm not sure what kind of "look" Iowa could give Wisconsin to maybe confuse them....I feel our LB's/defensive backfield are going to have to play above their abilities to keep this close....They have huge lineman compared to our defensive line.....Going to be a fun game to watch and hopefully KF/Staff are up to the task of out-gaming the competition....I know, I know, we've not seen that concept out of Kirk & Co. in a while, but we can only pray come Saturday.....
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The hawk defense cant sit back and play 'read' defense as I think a way to negate their big linemen is to try to penetrate gaps with a few players on each play. Whoever is outside, the DEnd or the Lbkr, needs to get 1 yard in the backfield maintaining outside leverage to cut off the sweeps while the inside guys maintain their gaps.

If Hawk tacklers can get off blocks then wisky's lineman are just blocking air.

I can see Wisky's OC using some counter sweeps and a reverse or two to make the hawks stay at home but the Dee may need to sell out.
 
Scooby said:
Offense, easily.
Wisconsin was minus Chris Borland, last year, and the defense set up the offense on the Wisconsin side of the field 3(?) times inside their 50, and all we could get is 6 points.
We also held Gordon to around 60 yards.
We lost 28-9, given those circumstances, and Wisconsin defense is better, and our offense feels worse this year.
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I would agree. My guess is the Iowa defense is able to put up a fight, at least for a half. But the offense and special teams will need to do something as well. Not sure Iowa is capable of doing that.
 
We will have to score some points if we are going to have a chance to win this game. Need a D score or a ST score as well
 
Jake will feel pressure and wet his pants again. LB's will take poor angles and barely get a hand on him. It will likely be a beat down
 
Surprised by everyone saying offense. I say defense. Gotta force 3 and outs and control the edges (something they haven't done all year. If so, all will be well. Becky holding the ball for sustained drives = trouble in IC.
 
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