[hawkfarmer]

If you go back and look at the recruiting the last 5 years for Iowa and Wisconsin, it has been pretty similar as far as recruiting rankings and the number of 4 stars etc. How is that Wisky can then have sustained success (granted I'm not sure how good they would be without Wilson this year who fell in their laps) but I don't think Iowa would be all that much bettter than they are now with Wison.

Is it the fact that their OL seems to be 300+ when they are freshman, is it the injury bug at RB? What is it?

[Churlish79]

Originally Posted by hawkfarmer

If you go back and look at the recruiting the last 5 years for Iowa and Wisconsin, it has been pretty similar as far as recruiting rankings and the number of 4 stars etc. How is that Wisky can then have sustained success (granted I'm not sure how good they would be without Wilson this year who fell in their laps) but I don't think Iowa would be all that much bettter than they are now with Wison.

Is it the fact that their OL seems to be 300+ when they are freshman, is it the injury bug at RB? What is it?

Well, they also won free agency in the off season.

I don't see Wisco being nearly as good as they are this year without him.

[hawkfarmer]

Originally Posted by Churlish79

Well, they also won free agency in the off season.

I don't see Wisco being nearly as good as they are this year without him.

i agree, and I said that, but I don't think he's making a 4 or 5 game difference. Their D is really good too.

Also, do you think if he went to Iowa last year we have any more success?

[olddude]

Meh, they are ok, but very beatable.

[eveningnewsteam]

With that schedule, they should be 4-0 right now and will be 5-0 after they play Indiana. They will not win in East Lansing and I also think they drop the game at Illinois. They have yet to play on the road so pump the breaks a little bit regarding Wisconsin.

[Churlish79]

Originally Posted by eveningnewsteam

With that schedule, they should be 4-0 right now and will be 5-0 after they play Indiana. They will not win in East Lansing and I also think they drop the game at Illinois. They have yet to play on the road so pump the breaks a little bit regarding Wisconsin.

Meh, they are a good team.

The Big Ten has to go crazy over one of their teams.. Wisco is the candidate.

They've got some tough games left, as you said. Roadies to East Lansing, Champaign, and Ohio State won't be "gimmes"

[hawkfarmer]

So you think a MSU state team that beat OSU 10-7 is going to beat Wisconsin. I'll take that bet.

[JonDMiller]

Yes, Russell Wilson is the difference in Wisconsin being a national title contender and an 8-4 team. However, this year's Wisky schedule was going to see them 4-0 to start, 4-1 at worst after five games. They will have their first true road game of the season on October 22nd

Wisconsin is probably a Top 10 team. It's tough to tell just how much better than that they are, however.

I would not call their defense great, either. It looked solid on Saturday and I give a big tip of the cap to the coaches for that game plan and strategy against Martinez

[ShoreHawk15]

Three things I can think of:

1. Their running backs have remained healthy (and on the team.)
2. Possibly the number of our guys leaving college early for the NFL, forcing us to put guys into spots before they might be ready. I haven't researched how our numbers compare to Wisconsin, so this could be a moot point.
3. Margin of victories/losses in one possession games impacting Iowa's record. Think of all the games we've dropped over the past 4-5 years by 7 points or less. Had many of them gone the other way for us, our level of "success" would be at or above Wisconsin's during this time. Wisconsin just doesn't find itself in as many close games like Iowa does.

Overall, I really don't see much difference in the success we've had over the past 4-5 years compared to Wisconsin. They obviously have the upper hand this year, but I think Iowa has done a pretty good job with sustaining success.

[eveningnewsteam]

Originally Posted by hawkfarmer

So you think a MSU state team that beat OSU 10-7 is going to beat Wisconsin. I'll take that bet.

Yeah because one game to the next has a ton of meaning in college football. First year watching??

[hawkfarmer]

Originally Posted by eveningnewsteam

Yeah because one game to the next has a ton of meaning in college football. First year watching??

No, but I've watched a few MSU games this year, they got smoked by ND and barely beat the insomniac that is OSU yet Wisky drubs Nebby. I think Nebby is better that MSU and that is my reasoning. I think Wisky can handle the road as they are a veteran team.

[Clark]

Originally Posted by hawkfarmer

No, but I've watched a few MSU games this year, they got smoked by ND and barely beat the insomniac that is OSU yet Wisky drubs Nebby. I think Nebby is better that MSU and that is my reasoning. I think Wisky can handle the road as they are a veteran team.

Wisconsin was better than MSU last year. What was the result of that game again?

Sometimes team match up well to beat better teams. Cousins is a tough matchup for Wiscy's defense.

[IAHawkFan]

Originally Posted by hawkfarmer

If you go back and look at the recruiting the last 5 years for Iowa and Wisconsin, it has been pretty similar as far as recruiting rankings and the number of 4 stars etc. How is that Wisky can then have sustained success (granted I'm not sure how good they would be without Wilson this year who fell in their laps) but I don't think Iowa would be all that much bettter than they are now with Wison.

Is it the fact that their OL seems to be 300+ when they are freshman, is it the injury bug at RB? What is it?

Well, first, it should be pointed out that we really don't know how good/bad wisc is yet. Beating up NE looks like a good win, but if the next 5 teams do the same thing....

Some things that seem to stand out, though:

1) They are much more aggressive on offense - especially against the weaker teams. Beating the crap out of nothing teams may not make them a good team, but it does make them look good on the ESPN bottom line.

2) They don't seem to be losing as many players as we are. Maybe it is because their younger players get some time in the early season blow outs. Maybe it is just luck (or bad luck in our case). While we may be recruiting at the same level, it seems like they get more of those recruits on the field.

3) It would seem like we have an issue with our out of season prep. Losing the number of RB's to injury that we have can't be simply bad luck. There must be something more. Imagine what the last couple of years would look like if we had been able to play our better RB's.

[MoseSchrute]

Originally Posted by IAHawkFan

Well, first, it should be pointed out that we really don't know how good/bad wisc is yet. Beating up NE looks like a good win, but if the next 5 teams do the same thing....

Some things that seem to stand out, though:

1) They are much more aggressive on offense - especially against the weaker teams. Beating the crap out of nothing teams may not make them a good team, but it does make them look good on the ESPN bottom line.

2) They don't seem to be losing as many players as we are. Maybe it is because their younger players get some time in the early season blow outs. Maybe it is just luck (or bad luck in our case). While we may be recruiting at the same level, it seems like they get more of those recruits on the field.

3) It would seem like we have an issue with our out of season prep. Losing the number of RB's to injury that we have can't be simply bad luck. There must be something more. Imagine what the last couple of years would look like if we had been able to play our better RB's.

#3. Iowa's prep is as good as anybody else. It really is just damn bad luck.

[H8IAST8]

Originally Posted by hawkfarmer

If you go back and look at the recruiting the last 5 years for Iowa and Wisconsin, it has been pretty similar as far as recruiting rankings and the number of 4 stars etc. How is that Wisky can then have sustained success (granted I'm not sure how good they would be without Wilson this year who fell in their laps) but I don't think Iowa would be all that much bettter than they are now with Wison.

Is it the fact that their OL seems to be 300+ when they are freshman, is it the injury bug at RB? What is it?

Obviously our RB situation has been fluid the last few years.
Iowa was a fake punt stop away from beating Wisconsin last year.
2 years ago Iowa won a BCS game Wisconsin has not.