Wisconsin Football: 5 Questions with Dear Old Gold on Iowa
Question 3: Iowa QB Nathan Stanley shredded the Buckeye secondary last week. Why or how did the passing game dominate?
Dear Old Gold:
Noah Fant at tight end has become one of the better tight ends in the conference and a red zone target for the sophomore QB Stanley. The wide receivers do its part with Matt VandeBerg and Nick Easly.
But the tight ends are the ones making a lot of the big catches when they need them on third down. Stanley is slowly becoming a player that will be feared as an upper classmen the next couple years as he seems to be getting better and better.
Badger of Iowa Reaction:
Stanley is coming off a dominating performance against The Ohio State. He went 20/31 for 226 yards and five touchdowns. He’s currently 4th in the Big Ten in passing efficiency. Of course, Wisconsin’s QB Alex Hornibrook is 2nd in the conference in passing efficiency.
Stanley has thrown 22 touchdowns against just four interceptions. That’s tied for lowest number of picks in the conference among rated QBs. In addition, Iowa’s four total interceptions is lowest in the Big Ten.
The Wisconsin secondary has given up some big plays in the passing game. So getting pressure on Stanley is important to not allow the Hawkeyes time to get deep. TJ Edwards strong pass coverage game is also important to slow the Iowa tight ends.