2021 preview – Syndication Server

A look at every Wisconsin Week 1 game from the past decade

Looking back on the results of every Week 1 Wisconsin football game of the past decade:

Week 1 is almost here for the 2021 Wisconsin Badgers as they get ready for a rare early conference test when Penn State visits Camp Randall on Saturday.

As the Badgers ready for this opener, let’s take a look back at the past decade of season openers for Wisconsin football. The one that is certainly still fresh in the minds of fans came last season in a stadium without fans. Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz looked superhuman in a win over Illinois that got the Badgers off to a 1-0 start.

How have other recent openers looked for Wisconsin? Let’s reminisce on every Week 1 game from 2010-2020:

Takes you can get behind: 5 bold predictions for Wisconsin’s 2021 football season

After a 307-day hiatus, I’m back with our annual edition of bold predictions for Wisconsin’s football season.

We were correct on three of our nine predictions before last season, clicking on Jake Ferguson’s rise, a few true freshmen having a big impact and more.

This year, the story surrounding the team is set to be extremely different after 2020 was a year filled with adversity, up-and-down play and in-conference losses.

I’m optimistic about how the team will rebound, about whether quarterback Graham Mertz can take a giant leap forward and how the schedule lines up in the team’s favor.

So, if everything falls into place perfectly, here’s what the season could look like for some stars on Wisconsin’s roster:

Three Wisconsin Badgers will miss the 2021 season due to injury

Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst gave an injury update for his team earlier today, during which he noted there are three players that will miss the 2021 season.

Wide receiver Danny Davis and kicker Jack Van Dyke are not among them, as Chryst said they are expected to return in the near future.

But after a 2020 season that saw Wisconsin’s starting quarterback, top two receivers, top cornerback and more miss significant time, all injuries are important to follow with the season now 11 days away.

Here are the three players Chryst said will miss the entire 2021 season:

The four biggest question marks surrounding the 2021 Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers enter the 2021 college football season with a deep roster that doesn’t warrant many questions.

Most of the defensive production returns including both starting cornerbacks, both starting inside linebackers and both starting outside linebackers and the offense enters the season with health and high expectations.

Nevertheless, there are always question marks surrounding any team entering a season.

Here I ask the four biggest questions about the team, questions which I would argue are also the only four big ones.

From Graham Mertz’s rebound, to special teams, here are my four biggest question marks surrounding the 2021 Wisocnsin Badgers:

Wisconsin returns to the New Year’s Six in 247Sports’ latest bowl projection

A successful season for Wisconsin football is often characterized by reaching double-digit wins and playing in a New Year’s Six bowl game.

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A successful season for the Wisconsin football program is often characterized by reaching double-digit wins and playing in a New Year’s Six bowl game.

They most recently did it in 2019, finishing the season 10-4 and narrowly following to Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

2021 is a new chapter, and 247Sports.com sees the Badgers returning to their winning ways.

In their most recent bowl projection, Wisconsin squares off with Oregon yet again in the granddaddy of them all: the Rose Bowl.

Preseason College Football Playoff, bowl projections https://t.co/uuo6HCKaoP via @247sports #Badgers

— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) August 9, 2021

Here’s what 247Sports’ Brad Crawford had to say about the potential matchup:

Let’s run this one back, a rematch of the Jan. 1, 2020 game that was narrowly won by the Ducks (28-27). That was an epic battle in Pasadena between two elites and didn’t disappoint. Oregon is once again the preseason Pac-12 favorite out West while most are projecting the Badgers to finish second to Ohio State in the Big Ten. Kayvon Thibodeaux for the Ducks is a national player of the year candidate off the edge and could be a top-five NFL Draft selection next April. Wisconsin anxiously awaits the opportunity to turn the page on, by program standards, a lackluster finish last fall.

For myself and every Badger fan out there, I feel safe saying this conclusion would be an overwhelming positive for Graham Mertz, Paul Chryst and the 2021 Wisconsin Badgers. While a Big Ten title is the goal, a shot at winning the team’s first Rose Bowl in two decades would be a welcome consolation prize.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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A former Badger makes USATODAY’s preseason All-America team for 2021

In USATODAY’s newly-released preseason All-America first and second team for the 2021 college football season, the Wisconsin Badgers were not given any praise.

We’ve seen the likes of Jack Sanborn, Jake Ferguson, Leo Chenal, Graham Mertz and others make some preseason All-Big Ten teams, but the jump to the national stage hasn’t come quite yet.

USATODAY’s All-America team did have one name to note, though, as they included former Wisconsin Badger Aron Cruickshank as the first-team kick returner.

Meet our 2021 preseason college football All-America team. https://t.co/ove6Y4fosh

— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) August 11, 2021

Cruickshank caught four passes in two years with the Badgers, totaling 40 receiving yards. His biggest impact, though, came carrying the football and on special teams, as he finished his Badger career with 19 carries for 189 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns, averaged 24.6 yards-per-return and took two kicks back for touchdowns.

The former Badger then transferred to Rutgers where he continued his kick-returning dominance, averaging 26.8 yards-per-return and scoring another 2 special teams touchdowns.

We’ll see what Devin Chandler can do for the Badgers returning kicks this season, though he probably won’t top USATODAY’s first-team All-America returner.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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Wisconsin football releases injury report for the start of training camp

The 2021 Wisconsin Badgers took the field for the first day of training camp on Friday, starting their prep for the season that now starts in less than four weeks.

The team dealt with health issues throughout the 2020 season, losing starting QB Jack Coan, starting WRs Kendric Pryor and Danny Davis, starting CB Rachad Wildgoose and more.

At this point in the offseason, the team is relatively healthy. They’ll need that to continue as the season moves along, but there aren’t any major injuries to note with training camp now underway.

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As reported by Colton Bartholomew and UW Athletics, here is the team’s injury report heading into last Friday’s first practice:

Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz named to the Manning Award Watch List

Wisconsin Badger quarterback Graham Mertz just received another piece of preseason recognition, as he was named to the Manning Award Watch List.

The award has been around since 2004 and has unsurprisingly never been won by a Badger signal-caller.

I got 5 on it 🔥

☑ @GrahamMertz5 pic.twitter.com/RUmcGFb8OB

— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) August 5, 2021

Mertz enters the 2021 season after throwing for 1238 yards in seven games for the Badgers last season, those yards coming with 61% completion, 6.2 adjusted yards-per-attempt, 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

2021 is lining up to be a big bounce-back campaign for Mertz and the Badger offense. While we still need to see it play out on the field, every indication coming out of camp and coming out of last year is that the young quarterback is set to ascend in a big way when the season kicks off in September.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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Ranking the quarterbacks in the Big Ten entering the 2021 football season

Where do you see Graham Mertz finishing?

There is no position in professional or collegiate sports more important than quarterback.

Look at Wisconsin’s Graham Mertz last season. When he played well, Wisconsin won every game. When he struggled and turned the ball over, they lost.

Mertz’s 2020 wasn’t dissimilar to that of other quarterbacks across the conference: general struggles but glimpses of really good play.

2021, now, will present an interesting case study in all of these guys. The main question: how much did 2020’s challenging situation affect how the signal-callers performed as the year progressed?

We’ll see soon enough.

For now, here is where every quarterback in the Big Ten stands entering the 2021 football season:

ProFootballNetwork predicts when current Wisconsin stars will go in the 2022 NFL Draft

ProFootballNetwork reviewed the entire Big Ten this week to find prospects for the 2022 NFL Draft, despite the event still being eight months in the future.

The 2021 NFL Draft saw three former Badgers selected—CB Rachad Wildgoose, DE Isaiahh Loudermilk and OT Cole Van Lanen.

2022 should be a similar story for the program, as the team has numerous draft-worthy players though nobody that is projected to crack the first round.

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Moving into the future, Wisconsin will eventually have their first player selected in the first round since T.J. Watt and Ryan Ramczyk in 2017. But this year will not be the year, most likely.

Here’s who ProFootballNetwork has being selected next April and where they project them to go: