The Wisconsin Badgers will look for their sixth-straight victory Saturday when they take on the 3-6 (1-5 Big Ten) Northwestern Wildcats.
Much of the talk entering the contest has surrounded Wisconsin’s ability to force turnovers at a high rate since the Purdue game, Braelon Allen’s continued emergence, Graham Mertz’s improvement and the play of the offensive line. Notice: all of that talk has been positive, as this Wisconsin team seems to be peaking at the right time.
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Unfortunately, the program received unfortunate news this week as it was announced that starting running back Chez Mellusi will miss the remainder of the season. The Badgers will now have to go to some combination of Allen, Julius Davis, Brady Schipper and Jackson Acker in the backfield for the rest of 2021.
The injury aside, Wisconsin still has a favorable matchup against Northwestern on Saturday. Here are five keys to a Badger victory: