Jim Polzin | 608-252-6473 | jpolzin@madison.com | Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009 5:00 am | (2)comments

Morry Gash/Associated Press .
..Game facts: Wisconsin at Hawaii

What: Wisconsin (8-3) at Hawaii (6-6) in a nonconference college football game

When: Saturday, 10:30 p.m. Central time

Where: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu

TV: ESPN2 with Terry Gannon and David Norrie

Radio: WIBA-FM/101.5 and AM/1310 with Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas

Schedules, rosters, stats: Wisconsin | Hawaii
HONOLULU — In one breath, Kerry Cooks says he believes the University of Wisconsin football team’s cornerbacks will bounce back from a poor performance two weeks ago against Northwestern.

In the next, the Badgers’ secondary coach admits he never knows quite what he’s going to get from a young group that includes starters Devin Smith and Niles Brinkley.

So Cooks will hope for the best but knows he’ll ultimately have to wait and see until the Badgers take the field Saturday night against pass-happy Hawaii at Aloha Stadium.

“As soon as you feel pretty good about a game or two games, about the kids understanding the concepts and practicing hard and moving forward and being ready to take that next step, then you face a game to where they take another step back,” Cooks said. “Now you’re back to square one.”

That’s where Cooks’ players find themselves after the Badgers’ 33-31 loss to Northwestern on Nov. 21. The Wildcats had 364 passing yards and became the fourth team this season to have at least three passing touchdowns against UW, which ranks 76th nationally in pass efficiency defense.

The cornerbacks aren’t solely to blame for those issues, but they’re clearly the weakest link on the team.

Cooks’ biggest issue with Smith, Brinkley and backup Antonio Fenelus has been a lack of consistency. The young corners – Smith and Fenelus – are sophomores, Brinkley – a junior – will be good in one game and bad in the next.

Case in point: On Oct. 31, UW held Purdue, which is third in the Big Ten Conference in passing offense, to 81 yards through the air. The next week, Indiana passed for 323 yards and three touchdowns and nearly pulled off an upset.

Sometimes, as was the case against Northwestern, UW’s Jekyll and Hyde act will appear in the same game. The Wildcats produced 248 passing yards, 27 points and all three of their passing touchdowns during a first half that saw them build a 13-point lead.

In the second half, Northwestern had 116 passing yards and scored its only points on field goals.

Had it not been for the fact Cooks shaves his head, he would have plucked every last hair out by hand this season.

“You can’t begin to understand how frustrating that is,” Cooks said. “You go out there in the first half and you give up (27) points, then you come back and give up six points. It’s like, ‘Go play that way in the first half.’

“And all it is is just focus and paying attention to the details.”

UW (8-3) will need to do both well to contain Hawaii (6-6), which features a run-and-shoot offense that uses four wide receivers and ranks third nationally with 348.7 passing yards per game. Sophomore quarterback Bryant Moniz’s favorite target is Greg Salas, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior who has 103 receptions for 1,559 yards and eight touchdowns this season.

Preventing the big play is something the Badgers have struggled with this season. It could be an issue again against Salas, who averages 15.1 yards per catch, and the Warriors.

UW has allowed 41 pass plays of 20 or more yards this season, including 15 completions of 30 or more yards.

Northwestern had seven plays of 20 or more yards through the air against UW – including six in the first half – while Michigan State, Iowa and Indiana each had six apiece.

“It has to be every play, every game,” Cooks said. “It can’t be every 10 plays are great and then have one (bad) play, because that one play is the one that hurts us.”

While going against an excellent passing attack such as Hawaii’s might not seem like an ideal scenario after the way things played out for the UW secondary at Northwestern, coach Bret Bielema sees it as an opportunity for the group to prove itself.

“The only way you get it off your chest is to go out and play,” Bielema said. “I like the fact that they know that they’re a focal point of our success.”

Cooks might not know exactly what he’ll get from his group Saturday, but he’s confident effort won’t be an issue.

“They definitely won’t back down,” Cooks said. “They’ll be excited. They’ve got a bad taste in their mouth right now that they want to get out. As a DB, these are the type of games that you want to play in

day yu go!

Coach Rolo! Moniz! Medeiros! Salas. You Go Go Go!

1. Have a quiet day at work.

2. Be good girl.

3. Eat your veggies.

4. Get ready for T-gate tomorrow.

5. Help da Tsaiko’s come out to play-i-a!

GO WARRIORS!

uddaz….dats where da cheese begins……

😆

i no i no… summa yu got dem right away…
like D1 and whitey…. and AJoe if he wuz up.

great mammaries! 😆