The No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers will take the field Saturday against the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish with a lot to prove.
Notre Dame is 3-0 on the season with some unimpressive wins against poor opponents (see: Florida State and Toledo).
Wisconsin, on the other hand, sits at 1-1 thanks to a Week 1 loss where they thoroughly outplayed No. 6 Penn State.
This contest is a prove-it game for the Badgers. We’ve seen great signs on both sides of the football, but critical errors including red-zone turnovers, penalties and coverage busts are the reason the team doesn’t sit 2-0 and ranked inside the nation’s top 10.
Related: Everything Notre Dame HC Brian Kelly said about Wisconsin on Monday
Yes, there is obviously the storyline of Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan facing his former team for the first time. But to me, the biggest storyline entering the contest is whether Graham Mertz and the Badger offense can finally start finishing drives and putting real points on the board.
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For the Badgers to answer those questions and win the football game, these five statistics will need to go the team’s way: