Nick Herbig vs Peter Skoronski
Northwestern struggled all over this Big Ten matchup. Peter Skoronski, the Wildcats’ left tackle, had a decent game, both his positives and question marks were highlighted. Skoronski showed off his great lateral movement skills, blocking ability at the second level and his pass protection IQ. However the major question with his play is his lack of elite vertical athleticism to get deep in his pass sets and not allow pass rushers to get up and around the outside. No defender was able to beat Skoronski for a touchdown and none really attempted to beat him upfield, but his movement was labored and his hand technique suffered which all plays into a potential move to gaurd at the next level.
Wisconsin had their way for the majority of this game, especially on defense. However they were only able to tally one sack on the day, curtesy of LB Nick Herbig. Herbig had a week 6 performance which accentuated all of his strengths seen coming off an impressive 2021 campaign. Herbig didn’t find much success going against future 1st rounder Skoronski, but the Wisconsin coaching staff moved him around so much to neutralize that. Herbig showed off his length and hand technique and good overall athleticism as a pass rusher and in space. His one sack came off the right side, unblocked and was on the quarterback in seconds, while not overly impressive it was a big time splash play in a game filled of them from the Badgers.