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Wisconsin postgame: Jim Leonhard discusses Iowa loss, tampering

A recap of what interim head coach Jim Leonhard had to say following the Badgers' 14-point loss to Iowa.

Matt Belz

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The Wisconsin Badgers fell to 5-5 overall and back under .500 in the Big Ten after a 24-10 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday afternoon. 

Following the poor showing in Iowa City, interim head coach Jim Leonhard met with reporters for his postgame news conference to discuss the team's performance. 

Here is a recap of what Leonhard had to say about a variety of different topics during postgame availability. 

Opening statement...

"I want to give coach Ferentz and his team a lot of praise. They outplayed us today. A physical battle, you know it was a fun one, but we obviously didn't make enough plays to get it done and we have some things we need to correct going forward."

On the play of his defense against Iowa...

"We played well. I think we held them to almost 150 yards and [were] put in some tough situations. We need to find a way to punch our way out of it, that's the only thing you can do when you're kind of back against the wall after some turnovers or field position with special teams. Proud of the way we played on defense, but we need to get a win and we couldn't find a way to get it done. I was a little disappointed they were able to churn out some yards at the end. Not an effort issue, they executed some plays and just sneaking over to get first downs. Very proud of the way we played on defense. Special teams let us down in some areas and obviously when you give up a pick-six that kind of changes the whole momentum of the game. It's tough to overcome sometimes."

On the team not playing well in big games...

"It's got to be emphasized all year round. You have to get your guys comfortable in close games and tough situations. That would be a huge emphasis of mine all year round, I think you have to in order to win close games, which you'd anticipate in the Big Ten. You know you're going to get in some battles when the weather turns, you know field position, things get a little bit tighter, the room for error gets lower. So that's going to be a huge emphasis, and it has been since I have taken over. I'm not saying it wasn't before, but you have to get comfortable in uncomfortable situations and I think we have some guys that are growing into that."

On Graham Mertz and if there was a reason for his struggles with handling the football...

"He hadn't said anything to me, but obviously when it gets cold and windy it gets slick. It's just something you have to deal with. Both teams have to deal with the same environment out there, so we have to be cleaner. We have to sustain drives and flip the field at least at times in moments like this where it's going to be a little bit close and force teams to make mistakes." 

On what he saw on the punt block by Iowa...

"I didn't get a really good chance to see what happened. I know they got a lot of size, a lot of defensive linemen out there, and stuff like that. I think we just got overpowered on the edge, but I'm not sure exactly what happened on it to see what we have to correct."

On special teams...

"I think we need to have a dynamic special teams unit, whatever that takes. If that's someone dedicated to it full-time. But you have to be able to create momentum with your special teams and you need to be able to just stop the bleeding at times when things get rough. Obviously throughout my career that was a huge role that I had, and I understand how big it is. I've mentioned a number of times, as things get close, when you play great teams, that needs to be a factor in the game, and unfortunately today it was a factor in the wrong direction. "

On tampering and rumors around Braelon Allen...

"Unfortunately we have to recruit our own team every day right now. I would never accuse any teams of tampering with your players, but teams are tampering with other people's players. It's unfortunate to see where it is at, but I have to continue to show a clear vision. I've mentioned it a number of times. the uncertainty is going to cause people to look and see what the best decisions for their future are, and we have to be real about that as coaches. That's why we have these conversations almost daily with our team about where we are going, what the plan is, and how we are going to get there. That's all we can do at this point. Like I said, it's unfortunate that a kid has to address that with the media, when it's not supposed to be real. But obviously, it is." 

On punt returns, and not fielding the football...

"I'm not going gonna throw a player under the bus, I got to see what happened. Generally on special teams when the ball is on the ground bad things happen and you have to do everything you can, we trust you to go catch the football back there. Like I said, it was a tough environment to catch the football and the worst thing that can happen is you not being able to field it and causing a turnover that way. So you have to feel comfortable that you are going to execute the catch and obviously it was a big momentum shift with us starting the drive at the one [yard-line]."

On the ability of Iowa's front seven to stop Wisconsin's run game...

"From my view, a little more movement, a little more pressure. They really wanted to apply pressure to our front, force a lot of one-on-one blocks. With the weather being a factor you are only able to do so much on the perimeter at times and I think they did a great job of really attacking up front and kind of creating numbers, creating angles that were tough for the o-line and tight ends to handle."

You can watch the entire press conference from start to finish below. 

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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