** 2020 Opponent Previews : Wisconsin (Game 2) **

I'm optimistic. Mertz looked good, but it was the perfect storm. Illinois has no pass rush, and the do absolutely nothing creative on defense. The Wisconsin staff had a lot of time to get Mertz ready, and he delivered. But it was a lot of short throws and the longer ones were pretty open. That said, he made the throws and that's all he has to do.

Their RBs are their worst case scenario. They're fine, but our DL and LBs looked a lot better than last year, and they left a lot of yards out there. Neither has any kind of burst. I did figure going into the year we'd throw on them but unless the rotation changes/Manning shows up, I no longer think that. Was Wan'Dale hurt for the game last year? I don't think they match up with him well.

 
Husker in WI said:
I'm optimistic. Mertz looked good, but it was the perfect storm. Illinois has no pass rush, and the do absolutely nothing creative on defense. The Wisconsin staff had a lot of time to get Mertz ready, and he delivered. But it was a lot of short throws and the longer ones were pretty open. That said, he made the throws and that's all he has to do.

Their RBs are their worst case scenario. They're fine, but our DL and LBs looked a lot better than last year, and they left a lot of yards out there. Neither has any kind of burst. I did figure going into the year we'd throw on them but unless the rotation changes/Manning shows up, I no longer think that. Was Wan'Dale hurt for the game last year? I don't think they match up with him well.
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Wandale didn't play against Wisconsin last year.  I actually think Frost held back getting Wandale a lot of touches against Ohio State to save him against Wisconsin and Northwestern, where they will have more trouble matching up to his speed and quickness.

 
I figured Illinois would be a pretty motivated team this year, coming off the most success they've had in a long time. As far as Wisconin's 45-7 win over them, if I had to choose between "Illinois wasn't motivated" and "the Badgers were motivated to play their best football" I'm going with the second one because that's just how their program rolls.

If Mertz plays, I predict they'll score a minimum of 31 points. We scored two touchdowns in one half against one of the best defenses in the country - can we play like that all game? Or will we crumple up and turn the ball over in the second half because we're playing from behind at half and trying to do too much?

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Wandale didn't play against Wisconsin last year.  I actually think Frost held back getting Wandale a lot of touches against Ohio State to save him against Wisconsin and Northwestern, where they will have more trouble matching up to his speed and quickness.
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Wandale got doubled a decent amount by Ohio St, so that's going to lead to him having a quieter game. Last year Wisconsin put a spy on Martinez to stop him from scrambling. I bet they do that again which would lead to more skill players like Wandale getting a lot more yards. For the record I hope Wandale gets doubled much more often. Great way for him to help others on the offense with a much less potential of him getting injured.

 
Undone said:
If Mertz plays, I predict they'll score a minimum of 31 points. We scored two touchdowns in one half against one of the best defenses in the country - can we play like that all game? Or will we crumple up and turn the ball over in the second half because we're playing from behind at half and trying to do too much?
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Time will tell on this.  But....how did we fumble on Saturday because we were trying to do too much?

 
Head Coach Scott Frost said:
Wandale got doubled a decent amount by Ohio St, so that's going to lead to him having a quieter game. Last year Wisconsin put a spy on Martinez to stop him from scrambling. I bet they do that again which would lead to more skill players like Wandale getting a lot more yards. For the record I hope Wandale gets doubled much more often. Great way for him to help others on the offense with a much less potential of him getting injured.
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Good point on Wandale getting double-teamed.  That will lead to other guys being open, or having more space for Adrian/Luke to run.

 
BigRedBuster said:
Time will tell on this.  But....how did we fumble on Saturday because we were trying to do too much?
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We didn't, really. Wasn't necessarily pointing to that.

I'd still rather see Mills taking that 2nd & 3 and smashing into the pile to try to convert rather than seeing Adrian running a zone read keeper. 

I'd love to see some great special teams again this Saturday with no turnovers, regardless of the outcome. Would love to see progress that heads in the right direction and stays in the right direction, even if we don't win this one.

 
BigRedBuster said:
Time will tell on this.  But....how did we fumble on Saturday because we were trying to do too much?
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I think Adrian's fumble was a direct result of him trying to make a bigger play than what was actually there.  If he stays inside and cuts it up for a gain of 3-5 he probably doesn't fumble.  Instead, he tried to make it a bigger play and as he was trying to cut outside, he became susceptible to the hit and strip from behind.

 
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