Husker in WI

That's a good point, Rhule mentioned our passing yards per game looking worse than it is because of the sheer volume of passes we've defended. But I hadn't really looked at it with specific opponents. Like it was crazy that Minnesota threw it 44 times, but it was game one and maybe they were just going to throw more. And nope, they are averaging 18.6 passes per game since then. Everybody other than Michigan has thrown it more times than their average, and I'm sure that will continue. Despite running it half the time NW is last in the conference in YPG and YPC. I'm assuming their QB Bryant will be healthy, and it could get dicey if he plays like he did in the second half against Minnesota. But I've gotta think that game is the outlier.

He had a couple real duds against Colorado which was disappointing and odd with the altitude, but yeah otherwise can't say that I've noticed the punts which is generally good. That Michigan return still makes me mad - they said Sanford didn't want to interfere with the catch, but I think he just misjudged that. It looks like he was timed up perfectly to hit right after the ball got there. And even if not that, you can't just go diving past him. If Alvano settles in the second half of the year I won't have any major special teams complaints.

I gotta be careful not to read too much into press conference comments, but I do think Rhule is pushing for this more than has happened. Position coaches (and the playcaller) have control over who is in on a given snap, and Rhule has brought up guys he "wants to see more of in games" a few times. Just mentioned today that he's been on Knighton about getting Van Poppel more snaps. But there is a lot to balance - I do think the position coaches feel more pressure to show loyalty to the guys doing everything right, even if their ceiling is lower. And there's absolutely a CYA element, if the freshman messes up Rhule is going to be on them about why the player wasn't able to handle it. It's also easy for a playcaller to draw up a handful of plays designed for the young guys. But then they run out there and the defense is doing something they didn't show on film, or the QB has to scramble, or we've only had 6 plays in a quarter and need to drain some clock, and it just doesn't get called. They had a play specifically for Doss this week but checked out of it due to the defense showing a corner blitz. I'm with you in general on this - at the end of the day, if it matters to the coaches (which it should) they need to find a way to make it happen. It's gonna happen now no matter what though, Bullock and Hahn can't play every snap of every remaining game.

Jeremiah Charles and Brice Turner are both working at Corner at the moment - based on the 2023 and 2024 classes, there are going to be a lot of guys getting looks on both sides of the ball until they settle into a position. Cooper had mentioned he was trying to get Charles in his room a few weeks ago.

This is gonna be a weird game too. There might be more defensive points than offensive points - the past two years, Iowa has gained 146 and 156 yards in this game. Wisconsin has gained 227 and 270. I do think not having the second half of their 1-2 punch will hurt Wisconsin, their passing game is not quite what their fans expected. I'd pretty much bet on Mordecai throwing a pick six (not sure Hill will get a ball close enough to another player to return the favor), but is that enough? Iowa/Wisconsin fighting for the division is pretty much what everyone expected, but I did expect one of them to look halfway decent and they haven't so far. Just significantly better than the rest of this division.

My only concern (as usual with this game) is whether we can avoid too many problems on offensive/special teams. I believe in our defense, I don't yet believe in the offense avoiding mistakes and special teams executing consistently.

I'm with you in general, but a big part of the snap count being that high was Washington being hurt. Coleman's role had been increasing already though.

Also, has anyone actually looked at our WR corps? Of the experienced guys, Washington was hurt all of camp and is now hurt again, IGC blew out his knee at the start of the season, and Fleeks got sent home the first day of fall camp and is now at RB. Betts was our most talented receiver and he left in the middle of fall camp. I know people are frustrated Coleman isn't more involved, but the only WR ranked ahead of him that is doing much is Zachariah Branch. Obviously some of their lack of production has to do with actually having talented players ahead of them, but I don't think that's all of it. They also have competent passing games when they do see the field. I've got no issue with McGuire so far, he's down to 1 of the expected top 5 WR coming into the year and while I love me some Haarberg we're not putting up video game numbers throwing the ball.

True, but a completion percentage over 50% would also make a big difference.

Our offense is a dumpster fire, no doubt. But if we are isolating it to offense, those numbers could be adjusted. They have a defensive touchdown and a special teams touchdown, which drops them down to 0.6 ppg better. And their kicker is 8/9 while our is 1/4, despite no 50+ yard attempts. So basically a wash points wise when limited to the offense, their defense and special teams are helping them. And not just in the field position sense, actually contributing points. The fact that the points are basically even is not something to brag about, by any means. But they are also averaging 4.3 yards per play, which is second worst in the entire country ahead of Sam Houston State. We're averaging 5.8, which is slightly below middle of the pack. We need to figure out how to turn the yards into points (maybe stop turning it over and start making field goals), they need to figure out.. just about everything.

Yeah good point. Well I can't figure out who it is, seems weird that a random lineman would be given #4. Especially since it's practice so things like having multiple players with the same number don't matter, and they've made such a big deal out of giving them to only those guys. Oh, I figured it out - Jer'Zhan Newton is a player we will absolutely need to be aware of and gameplan around, and he wears #4. So it's whoever is being him on scout team, probably Maciejczak based on size and whiteness. Unless they have Van Poppel for a better look, but I don't think they're pulling him out of the regular practice rotation to give a better scout team look.

Mildly interesting, there's a big boy wearing number 4 (normally Reimer's number) at the 20 second mark. Given that it appears to be a pulling OL and Rhule said they don't replace the single digit guys, guessing that's Piper since he got an honorary single digit. Obviously can't wear it in a game, but cool to see.

Does it though? With the caveat that we have no idea what these teams will be like in 2025 let alone 2028, looking just at the teams you listed and Washington: They get OSU and Washington next year, USC/Oregon/Penn State in '25, Michigan/OSU/Washington in '26, Oregon/Michigan/USC in '27, and Penn State/USC in '28. We get OSU/USC next year, Penn State/Michigan/USC in '25, Oregon/OSU/Washington in '26, OSU/Washington/Oregon in '27, and Michigan/USC/Penn State in '28. Seems pretty even until 2028, depending on how you feel about whether Washington is for real.

My guess for this one is it was the easiest way to help the goal of relatively fair travel. They're still ~200 miles apart, but making that every year offsets some of the longer distances. Interestingly enough both are also roughly 200 miles from Penn State, but they didn't get a protected matchup at all. But they are closer to the old school big ten teams so maybe just not a huge concern there.

Iowa having 3 protected games could be a blessing or a curse for them. None of Wisconsin, Minnesota, or us are scary right now. But all 3 have been fairly solid, so in say 2025 where they get Oregon, Penn State, and USC it's not nothing. And I don't think either fanbase sees Iowa/Wisconsin as a rivalry game. Not the poster you're quoting but I don't think proximity alone is enough to justify protecting it, no. They each already have an in-state protected game that means more.

You mean in terms of his size or did you mean something else? I think he's a really solid recruit. Think he's talking about this piece of your initial post:

And that's just part of the plan, being a "defensive team" that wears down opponents. We are unlikely to ever be top ten in things like yards or points per game, but we do need to be a lot better on a per drive basis. More 3rd down conversions (and turnovers forced by the defense) would help bump those numbers up, but yards per play and points per drive are what I will be looking at for offensive success.

It's nice to see him making a move - not really the freshman DB I'd expect but guys need to step up. That being said, I strongly suspect they'd slide Sanford over to Rover if Gifford went down and we'd see more Bretz at Safety.

That was largely because we needed them to, and it was not the best thing for them. I don't think we needed Sims for NIU or La Tech, and we were going to lose to Michigan anyway. Unlike the situations with both Martinez's and Armstrong at least, we have a young backup who is worthy of a look. We played Adrian through an ankle sprain against Minnesota in 2021 and he had 8 carries for -17 yards.

What we think of as sprained ankles are typically low ankle sprains or very mild high ankle sprains. There's a whole spectrum, and severe ones can even require surgery. I don't think there's anything crazy going on - we rely on the QB run game way too much to have him play through it. If we ran Iowa's offense, sure he could probably be out there. He's been dressing and ran a play against La Tech, but you don't want him running around on it too much and that's exactly what our offense needs the QB to do.

It just was in fact a high-ankle sprain, despite Rhule questioning that initially. He clarified at some point in the last week or so that they assumed it wasn't a normal high-ankle sprain based on Sims ability to move shortly after, but turns out he's just pretty tough and it was a pretty standard high-ankle issue. 4-6 weeks is the norm for that.

Mostly - the 2020 class will still be around and could use it, but we don't have a lot of those guys left. Corcoran, Gunnerson, Hutmacher, Gifford, Butler, and Lynum.

Yeah, he got a lot of snaps replacing Singleton. Rhule also mentioned Newsome played some Safety while Hill played corner, but to be honest I didn't notice. But yeah, he's clearly on a trajectory to play. I wouldn't assume the freshman class will be totally untouched either (and I know you didn't say "totally.") Not expecting a ton to leave, but feels like there could be a few who see others contributing right away and decide to move on. There's just going to be more churn in general, even with the second transfer waivers all being denied. They might be spring ball transfers too - but we are bringing in a lot of WR/DB types next year after signing a lot this year and some of them will move on early.

It's never a great sign when your scholarship starters get hurt and walk-ons fill in. But he'll be fine, he's a better athlete than most walk-ons and has made some open field tackles on special teams.