2. Wisconsin Badgers
2020 Preseason
AP 12, Coaches 12
Final Record: 4-3
What Went Wrong?
A global pandemic.
No major team got hit harder or faster than Wisconsin, with QB Graham Mertz following up a historic debut in the win over Illinois with a positive COVID test a few days later. The team came back after three weeks off and roared past Michigan, but it wasn’t nearly the same.
The receiving corps was decimated by injuries, and that changed everything.
As promising as freshman RB Jalen Berger was and is, he’s not Jonathan Taylor. The Badgers couldn’t rely on the ground game when there was absolutely no downfield threat from the passing attack. Nothing worked with a brutal run of three straight losses scoring seven points or fewer in each, and that was it for any Big Ten title dreams.
But the D was still fabulous, the ball control style still worked, and all things considered, going 4-3 by blowing out Michigan, keeping the Paul Bunyan Axe from Minnesota, and wining a bowl game over Wake Forest wasn’t totally awful.
Why 2021 Will Be Better: Returning Talent
Start with the receiving corps. The Badgers get back the top guys and playmakers they were desperately missing last year.
There aren’t any major transfer losses to get into a twist over. Mertz is a big-time passer who should look a whole lot better with Kendric Pryor and Danny Davis back along with TE Jake Ferguson.
Berger has a world of upside, the O line is the Wisconsin O line, and even with a few big losses up front, the defense will once again be among the Big Ten’s best.
Why 2021 Will Be Better: Schedule
– 2021 Wisconsin Football Schedule Analysis
Penn State. September 4th to open the season. Let’s go.
Eastern Michigan comes next, and then there’s a week off before dealing with Notre Dame in Chicago and Michigan at home.
Throw in the trip to Illinois to face former Badger head man Bret Bielema’s club, and follow that up with a dangerous date against Army, and then at Purdue, and then Iowa, and the slate is scary.
So where’s the positive? There’s no Ohio State, there’s no Indiana – that matters this year – and Michigan, Penn State, Iowa, Northwestern and Nebraska are all home games.
If you’re Wisconsin, and you really think you’re good enough to win the Big Ten title, or at least play for it, a road slate of Illinois, Purdue, Rutgers and Minnesota has to be a walk in the park.