Nice Wisconsin article on the NU defense written on the 247 site. I hope it is okay to post it here.
247 article
- Thread starter CardinalFib
- Start date
I wish Hank would win the Broyles Award just once before he retires. He's a genius.
The Wisconsin article should have simply said that NU plays a very sophisticated pass defense with athletes that make you pay for any mistakes.
And yes. Hank is long overdue for the Broyles award.
GOUNUII
That was a good article especially talking about how Hank's defense makes young QBs struggle. Mertz hasn't been hit in the mouth yet, and the Cats will be attacking him all day.
It kind of bummed me out to read Mertz’s sophisticated understanding of what our defense tries to do ...
To me, the trick is to throw it when the 8 men are in the box and make them back off.
we have veteran WRs and TE, we should be able to throw it when you expect a run and run it when you expect the pass.
If not, Cats are the greatest defensive team in NCAA history and we’re screwed anyway.
I‘m curious to see how Jim Leonard’s defense holds up also.
These OLB‘s aren’t as fast as recent Badger OLB’s, no TJ Watt’s , Vince Biegel’s, Schobert’s or even Van Ginkel’s on the edges but the true Frosh Herbig is making some noise early and could be in that class eventually.
To me that’s a key, can Badgers defense shut down Cat’s?
we have veteran WRs and TE, we should be able to throw it when you expect a run and run it when you expect the pass.
If not, Cats are the greatest defensive team in NCAA history and we’re screwed anyway.
I‘m curious to see how Jim Leonard’s defense holds up also.
These OLB‘s aren’t as fast as recent Badger OLB’s, no TJ Watt’s , Vince Biegel’s, Schobert’s or even Van Ginkel’s on the edges but the true Frosh Herbig is making some noise early and could be in that class eventually.
To me that’s a key, can Badgers defense shut down Cat’s?
Larry, you always bring a good perspective during the week the Badgers and Cats play. On the first point, that is, throwing and running against expectation, the key point isn’t as much whether the Badger receivers recognize and adjust, but also that Mertz reads and delivers. He showed confidence in the cited article; it will be his first real test against a good, but not greatest of all time, defense. If he delivers, Badgers look good Saturday and have a chance against OSU.
I think the Badger defense will be fine; it is disciplined, and the Cats really don’t rely on speed to put points on the board. If the Badger linebackers can recognize the Cats’ call and hold there positional responsibility, they will limit NU to 14 to 21 points exclusive of Badger turnovers or special team points.
One way or the other, it looks like a mid 20’s game with the team that can put up 28 the likely winner.
