Deacon Hill will play his old team in Madison on Saturday, less than a year after his transfer.
By Nathan Denzin, BADGER STRIPES
Former Wisconsin Badger quarterback Deacon Hill will get a shot at his old team next week, after an injury to Iowa starting QB Cade McNamara will see him sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Hill was a 4-star prospect out of high school in 2020, picking Wisconsin over teams like Kansas State and Nevada. Less than two years later, the talented QB entered the transfer portal.
With Graham Mertz starting, Hill took a redshirt year in 2021, and was part of a muddy backup situation in 2022 with Chase Wolf, Marshall Howe and Myles Burkett. Only Burkett is still on the Wisconsin roster.
After Paul Chryst was fired in early October of 2022, Hill announced his transfer a week later – perhaps seeing the writing on the wall for that quarterback room.
On Twitter, Hill said:
“This is not a decision I have taken lightly, and while I know I will miss my family here in Madison immensely, I believe this is an important step in continuing to grow and move forward in my football career,”
Deacon Hill stats
After redshirting his freshman year, Deacon Hill saw extremely limited action for the Badgers in 2022. His one appearance came in a blowout against New Mexico State, where he did not attempt a pass and was sacked once for a loss of 10 yards.
He announced his intent to transfer three weeks later.
In his first extended action for the Iowa Hawkeyes last week, Hill completed 11 of 27 passes for 115 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He was hit or miss throughout the game, but leaned on his defense’s four turnovers and a punt returned for a touchdown to grind out the win.
However, with a week to prepare for his matchup against the Badgers, Hill should play better.
He was touted as a guy with a powerful arm and good accuracy coming out of high school, and with Offensive Coordinator Brian Ferentz’s scoring clause — Iowa must average 25 point per game or he loses his job — we might see more passing than we’re used to from the Hawkeyes.
Game Outlook
The Wisconsin Badgers have had a week to rest, and should come out firing against a Hawkeyes team that is 4-1, but hasn’t really faced any great teams yet. Iowa’s defense is legit, but the Badgers looked like they were back on track in a 38-17 rout over Purdue in Week 4.
The biggest concern for UW is who will step up and fill the absence of Chez Mellusi, who suffered a gruesome leg injury against the Boilermakers and is out for the rest of the season.
On the defensive side, the Badgers don’t have any major injuries, and are trending in the right direction after forcing three turnovers and a couple turnovers on downs in the last seven drives against Purdue.
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