Grading Wisconsin football in its win over the Iowa Hawkeyes

Pass Defense: C

For starters, the pass rush didn’t get any sacks or hurries on Nate Stanley. Andrew Van Ginkel wasn’t on the field as often as he usually is but the rest of the pass rush couldn’t manufacture much.

The secondary was borderline awful, though it could have been much worse. Stanley completed only 14 of his 23 passes for 256 yards and was picked off once. My biggest issues with the secondary were the penalties and the lack of continuity. Youth can explain both but that doesn’t make it excusable in my book.

The secondary was looking like it could be a strong unit this year. The inexperience in Scott Nelson and the two outside corners looked like it was covered up by the talent in those individuals. Playing on the road likely changed all of that. Outside of their comfort zone, those young defensive backs were chasing all the wrong things.

Penalties were driving me nuts during this game too. Wisconsin had eight for 68 yards. A lot of which were defensive pass interference calls. One key play that stands out to me had Stanley rolling to his left (a right-handed quarterback) and throwing a deep ball up for grabs to the middle of the field to one of his tight ends. That kind of throw begs to be intercepted or knocked down at least. Not only did the Badgers give up the catch, but they let it happen through a pass interference call too. It was rough.