Jim Leonhard, the Wisconsin Defensive Coordinator, is very good at his job. In addition to developing players well and an effective base scheme, I think he is Hankwitz-like in the wrinkles he puts in to counter threats particular opponents bring.
For the last five games, including one with Purdue, the Badgers have allowed just over seven points a game. Their defensive line has dominated their opponents’ O lines, their linebackers have been free, as a result, to wreak havoc and the DB’s have limited big plays. The only team that was able to have some success and mount successful, time consuming drives was Army, and they still held them to 14. You would think, facing the Cats, whose OLine has been terrible and whose offense in general has been moribund, the Leonhard could punch up his most basic game plan and either devote time to deciding which subs to give playing time to once the game is out of hand or taking time off to see his family. My guess, though, is that he watched the film of the Cats over the year and actually had to think a little about how to approach the game this Saturday.
At the crux of the issue is the idea that Marty, a big QB with fair fair running ability gives the Cats the possibility of attacking the Wisconsin D in an analogous way to the way Army did: Coach Jake might decide to forget trying to use his O line to create a passing pocket or holes through conventional blocking schemes and instead uses his QB to roll and scramble while spreading the field with the weapons he has, and to sprinkle in a few traps, misdirections and delays. Essentially minimizing the O line D line matchup means that the offense has a chance of success if it has a few players who can make plays. In the case of the Cats, the fact that there are two players that can create big plays in the open field (Hull and Robinson) and a third (Marty) who can get excellent yardage if the DLine loses containment probably gives JL something to think about. You also have to consider the fact that the second WR, Washington, is capable of beating single coverage for midrange possession throws with some consistency.
My guess is that Leonhard takes a deep breath, figures his linebackers and DBs are good enough players to make tackles against anyone in the open field, and works on rush schemes that emphasize containment and at time drop DE’s into zone coverage to try to counter NU’s attempts to spread the field rather than conventional domination. Amazingly, if the Cats don’t shoot their foot off on the first two or three possessions, the Cats O/ Wisconsin D matchup could be pretty interesting. What I really wish is either that Leonhard was not so good at his job or that he did decide to effectively take this week off. I haven’t looked forward to many games this year, but I do think this one may be surprisingly entertaining.
For the last five games, including one with Purdue, the Badgers have allowed just over seven points a game. Their defensive line has dominated their opponents’ O lines, their linebackers have been free, as a result, to wreak havoc and the DB’s have limited big plays. The only team that was able to have some success and mount successful, time consuming drives was Army, and they still held them to 14. You would think, facing the Cats, whose OLine has been terrible and whose offense in general has been moribund, the Leonhard could punch up his most basic game plan and either devote time to deciding which subs to give playing time to once the game is out of hand or taking time off to see his family. My guess, though, is that he watched the film of the Cats over the year and actually had to think a little about how to approach the game this Saturday.
At the crux of the issue is the idea that Marty, a big QB with fair fair running ability gives the Cats the possibility of attacking the Wisconsin D in an analogous way to the way Army did: Coach Jake might decide to forget trying to use his O line to create a passing pocket or holes through conventional blocking schemes and instead uses his QB to roll and scramble while spreading the field with the weapons he has, and to sprinkle in a few traps, misdirections and delays. Essentially minimizing the O line D line matchup means that the offense has a chance of success if it has a few players who can make plays. In the case of the Cats, the fact that there are two players that can create big plays in the open field (Hull and Robinson) and a third (Marty) who can get excellent yardage if the DLine loses containment probably gives JL something to think about. You also have to consider the fact that the second WR, Washington, is capable of beating single coverage for midrange possession throws with some consistency.
My guess is that Leonhard takes a deep breath, figures his linebackers and DBs are good enough players to make tackles against anyone in the open field, and works on rush schemes that emphasize containment and at time drop DE’s into zone coverage to try to counter NU’s attempts to spread the field rather than conventional domination. Amazingly, if the Cats don’t shoot their foot off on the first two or three possessions, the Cats O/ Wisconsin D matchup could be pretty interesting. What I really wish is either that Leonhard was not so good at his job or that he did decide to effectively take this week off. I haven’t looked forward to many games this year, but I do think this one may be surprisingly entertaining.
