Badgers vs Cockeyes

[Goober McTuber]

Mace, we already placed our bets and I'll stand behind it. However, I have little hope that UW will beat Iowa this Saturday. If the game were two or three weeks out I think Bucky would have a decent shot. But after the way they got up for tOSU and punched them in their dicklickers, I see a huge letdown this week. Tolzien has had an up and down season, he'll probably be good for two picks this weekend. Special teams have been inconsistent at best. I'd love to pick Bucky to pull out a close one but I see

UW 17
Iowa 34

[TheJON]

If Bielema ever wants to start getting to BCS bowls he needs to learn how to win on the road. The only team in the Big-10 that can beat Wisconsin in Madison is Iowa it seems but the Badgers struggle to beat just about anyone away from home.

I really don't know what the problem is. They seem to play a style of play condusive to winning on the road (efficient offense, run the ball, usually a good defense) but it's just not happening.

24-13 or somewhere in there is my prediction. 1 score game until the 4th and then Stanzi does what Stanzi does- game clinching drive.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Chickenhawks 24
Vadgers 16

[TheJON]

Chickenhawks 24
Vadgers 16

Clearly you're just picking Iowa because you want to see your Spartans play in a Gameday game and you know if Iowa loses it would actually hurt your chances of moving up in the polls should you beat the Hawks next week. :D

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Eh, I dunno about it hurting MSU's chances. Wisky is ahead of Iowa in the polls right now so it might stand to reason I'd want Wisky to win out. Plus MSU has the tie breaker over Wisky so they're less of a threat at this point.

Ideally though it'd be nice to have the chance to knock off Iowa when they're peaking. I hope they beat UW, but come out bruised and limping. Nice and ripe for Greg Jones and co.

[TheJON]

Eh, I dunno about it hurting MSU's chances. Wisky is ahead of Iowa in the polls right now so it might stand to reason I'd want Wisky to win out. Plus MSU has the tie breaker over Wisky so they're less of a threat at this point.

Ideally though it'd be nice to have the chance to knock off Iowa when they're peaking. I hope they beat UW, but come out bruised and limping. Nice and ripe for Greg Jones and co.

I know MSU beat Wisconsin, but I still think they need Iowa to beat Wisconsin. A win over a Top 10 Iowa team will give them a bigger boost now than a win over a #20 ranked Iowa team. Plus, this game is on the road. Win or lose, Wisconsin is going to look like a quality victory for MSU. But let's say Iowa loses to Wisconsin and then you guys beat us and so does tOSU. All of a sudden you're looking at beating an 8-4 squad on the road instead of possibly a 10-2 team. Still a quality win, but not a "best road win in the country"-type. Wisconsin won't lose another game after Iowa, so you've already got a win over a 10-2 team at home. But you could have a home win over a 10-2 team and potentially a road win over a 10-2 or 9-3 squad. Then factor in the bump in the polls you could get next week because of it.

Of course, we're all getting ahead of ourselves here. A lot of weird shit can happen in CFB and we could be looking at a game that's not that huge next week should Iowa and MSU lose. But I do think MSU needs an Iowa victory if they want any shot at a national title. And before you laugh that off, it's not completely ridiculous to think they could have a shot at it if you can win at Iowa and handle Northwestern this week. You just need an Oregon, Auburn, and OU loss (and I think there's a good possibility of that happening) and you're playing Boise State for a national title. Stranger things have happened. I know there's still Alabama and Ohio State in front of you, but I think a road win over Iowa if we're Top 10 would bump MSU ahead of those teams in the polls given they have 1 loss.

[Mace]

Mace, we already placed our bets and I'll stand behind it. However, I have little hope that UW will beat Iowa this Saturday. If the game were two or three weeks out I think Bucky would have a decent shot. But after the way they got up for tOSU and punched them in their dicklickers, I see a huge letdown this week. Tolzien has had an up and down season, he'll probably be good for two picks this weekend. Special teams have been inconsistent at best. I'd love to pick Bucky to pull out a close one but I see

UW 17
Iowa 34

All of that was going to happen with, or without, a Badger win over tOSU. No way a "letdown" should happen if your coaches know how to coach. That said, I think the Hawks win by double digits and that the defense will shut down Clay and the Badger offense....something they couldn't do at Michigan.....and that Tolzien will be good for at least 2 INTs, probably more.

[TheJON]

I don't think we will shutdown Wisconsin's offense. I think we will do better than most. I haven't heard any word on Tarpinian, but if he doesn't play we could have some problems covering slant routes. Troy Johnson was getting owned. Micah Hyde was exposed last week and I expect Bielema to try and exploit his side of the field.

I'm actually disappointed in our defensive line this year. It's still good, but they haven't lived up to the preseason hype. Clayborn has not been dominating anyone and Ballard and Klug have been inconsistent.

I think Clay and White will put up solid numbers on the ground. This is the best offensive line we will face all year. I'm starting to wonder if our defensive issues are due to Norm Parker not being there. I mean, yeah, we dominated Ball State and ISU and Eastern Illinois but those offenses are lousy. Even Penn State in the 2nd half started moving the ball quite well.

It's really weird because last year our defense would get off to slow starts and then dominate in the 2nd half. This year it's the exact opposite (outside of Arizona game). This defense has been nothing short of HORRIBLE in the 2nd half of some games. I'm not sure if it has to do with letting their foot off the gas with a big lead or if there really are some issues. I thought we played Denard Robinson about as well as you can. That was good to see. But I also thought we played Tate Forcier about as BAD as you possible can. That deep ball where Prater just let the defender jump in front of him and catch a ball that should have been easy to breakup was lazy. If I'm coaching, he's sitting out the rest of the game for pulling that crap. Michah Hyde makes some mistakes and it will be interesting to see what MSU and Wisconsin do to try and exploit that. Tolzien is a quality QB and Wisconsin has very good receivers.

I'm hopeful Tarpinian will be playing. Troy Johnson was just getting owned by Michigan. He's just not ready to be a starter.

The problem with this matchup for Wisconsin is the fact that they're coming off an emotional win and going on the road in a hostile environment. Bielema's road record is really bad. The biggest issue Wisconsin seems to have against Iowa is making in-game adjustments. Let's face it, our coaching staff has continually done a better job of making in-game adjustments against the Badgers than they have against us. Last year they dominated our defense on the ground in the first half and then we started stacking the box and they kept running it instead of throwing over the top. This led to our defense completely shutting them down in the 2nd half and winning the game. But without Norm.......will we be making those proper adjustments should we be struggling early?

I still think Iowa is going to win, but as I start to think more and more about this matchup I'm not quite as confident. Tate Forcier figured Iowa's defense out last week. Granted, Wisconsin runs a completely different style of play and I also feel a big part of that was a lack of effort with a big lead........but there's some reason for concern. I would like to beat Wisconsin and not have anything else be exploited going into the MSU game.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Micah Hyde was exposed last week

btw, thanks for taking the worse of the two Hyde brothers. Marcus Hyde is actually starting to come around a little bit. Dude loves to hit people.

[Goober McTuber]

Mace, we already placed our bets and I'll stand behind it. However, I have little hope that UW will beat Iowa this Saturday. If the game were two or three weeks out I think Bucky would have a decent shot. But after the way they got up for tOSU and punched them in their dicklickers, I see a huge letdown this week. Tolzien has had an up and down season, he'll probably be good for two picks this weekend. Special teams have been inconsistent at best. I'd love to pick Bucky to pull out a close one but I see

UW 17
Iowa 34

All of that was going to happen with, or without, a Badger win over tOSU.

Your opinion, nothing more. Bielema eventually figured out how to beat tOSU. He'll eventually figure out how to win a big game on the road. Probably not this weekend, however. Just a head's up, Mace, if Iowa does win it may take me more than a day to produce payment. I just had a knee replaced and I'm not getting out of the house much yet. Just be patient.

[Mace]

No problem on the payment, Goobs. In fact, I don't care if you even make a payment. I'm more interested in the avatar bet.

[Goober McTuber]

No, I stand behind my bets. Besides, I'd rather pay $25 that have to wear Cockeye gear.

[Mace]

No, I stand behind my bets. Besides, I'd rather pay $25 that have to wear Cockeye gear.

Actually, our bet is for both.....$25 and the avatar.

http://www.theoneboard.com/board/postin ... 5&p=691769

[Goober McTuber]

Oh, that's right. I figured I wouldn't be wearing it that long anyway. It's all good.

[Mace]

Oh, that's right. I figured I wouldn't be wearing it that long anyway. It's all good.

Yeah, only until Iowa's first loss next season.

[TheJON]

Micah Hyde was exposed last week

btw, thanks for taking the worse of the two Hyde brothers. Marcus Hyde is actually starting to come around a little bit. Dude loves to hit people.

Micah will be fine. He's made some nice plays but his inexperience really showed up last week. He's going to be a solid corner by next year.