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ESPN College Gameday picks for No. 13 Wisconsin vs. Michigan

Tonight’s matchup between the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers and the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines is college football’s premier contest of the weekend. During a normal year, the game would host ESPN College Gameday and we would see a Lee Corso headgear pick. …

They did still pick the game, though, and here is who the crew picked to win:

Desmond Howard: Wisconsin

Lee Corso: Wisconsin

Jack Nicklaus: Wisconsin

No big surprises here, as the Badgers are favored to win the game. Desmond is a Michigan alumn, though, and rarely picks against his Wolverines.

Michigan and Wisconsin will kick off at 6:30 p.m. central in front of an empty Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

We won’t know until then who will take the field at quarterback for the Badgers, who the team is missing and how Chryst’s squad looks after three idle weeks.

Gameday work:

What Michigan is saying about Wisconsin football this week

The No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers are set to take the field tonight against the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines in what will be their first game…

The No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers are set to take the field tonight against the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines in what will be their first game in 22 days.

This week we’ve gone through the matchup, analyzed the Wolverine team, and gave you keys to the game, what to watch for and why Wisconsin will come away with a victory.

That’s all from a Wisconsin perspective

Now we’re looking at what Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has been saying about the Badgers this week.

First, regarding the fact the Badgers have only played one game this season, Harbaugh said his team will “use film against Illinois and film from last year” to prepare for the contest.

I don’t think anybody knows what Wisconsin team we’ll see tonight, especially given the fact there will likely be players out and the team hasn’t played in more than three weeks.

Despite this being the marquee matchup of the weekend in college football, a lot of the talk in Michigan is around their 1-2 start and what direction the program is heading.

When asked about how the team will prepare for the rest of the season with the Big Ten off the table, Harbaugh said the focus is to win the next game on the schedule and said he and his team aren’t concerned with the outside noise about their bad start.

There wasn’t much else said in his game week press conference against the Badgers and the matchup between the two teams, as many of the questions addressed why Michigan has started slow and what direction the team and the program are heading.

How Wisconsin’s defense can find success against Michigan tomorrow

The No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers are set to take the field in Ann Arbor tomorrow night against the Michigan Wolverines and continue…

The No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers are set to take the field in Ann Arbor tomorrow night against the Michigan Wolverines and continue their interrupted season.

One of the keys to Paul Chryst and his team coming away victorious and starting the season 2-0 will be repeating their impressive defensive effort from Week 1.

The defense pitched a shutout if you will, a performance that is unlikely to be repeated against a much better Michigan offense.

For the defense to find any success, though, they will need to excel in a few key categories.

The first is in the trenches against Michigan’s talented running backs (and quarterback).

Wolverine running backs Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins enter the contest with a combined 30 carries for 234 yards and 4 touchdowns. Add quarterback Joe Milton’s 25 carries for 102 yards and 1 touchdown and you have a running attack that can hurt you in several ways.

Jim Leonhard and his defense will need Keeanu Benton, Garrett Rand and Isaiahh Loudermilk to have a game upfront, as well as linebackers Noah Burks, Jack Sanborn, Leo Chenal and Izayah Green-May to help them control the gaps.

To me, shutting down Milton should be the top priority after Illinois quarterback Brandon Peters ran for more than 70 yards on 7 carries against the Badger defense in Week 1.

But the Michigan offense has struggled when they’re forced into third-and-long scenarios. Getting them to those situations and getting off the field will be the focus for Leonhard and his unit tomorrow night.

The second area the Badger defense will need to excel in is taking wide receiver Ronnie Bell out of the game.

In Week 1 cornerback Rachad Wildgoose shut down Illini receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe to just 3 catches for 26 yards. Coming against a player who averaged more than 18 yards-per-reception last season, Wildgoose’s performance was an exceptional one and will need to be repeated this week.

Bell thus far through three weeks has 14 catches, 269 yards, 1 touchdown and has averaged 19.2 yards-per-reception. He’s as good of a deep threat that the conference has, and taking him out of the game will be key to limiting Michigan’s offense output.

Leonhard’s defense will need a complete effort to shut down the Wolverines, and winning the turnover battle would be a big plus. But the two areas in which the team must find success is stopping Milton on the ground, getting Michigan to third-and-long and taking Ronnie Bell out of the game.

If they can do all three of those things, we could see another dominant performance from the Wisconsin Badger defense.

Gameday work:

Five keys to a Wisconsin victory over Michigan on Saturday

Head Coach Paul Chryst and the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers will be back in action Saturday against Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan…

Head Coach Paul Chryst and the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers will be back in action Saturday against Jim Harbaugh and the 1-2 Michigan Wolverines, a game date that will mark 22 days after their Week 1 contest against Illinois.

The last few weeks in Madison have not been easy, as the team opened the season with a dominant 45-7 victory Illinois, experienced a COVID-19 outbreak within the program, saw two of their games canceled and had to wait until just recently to return to the field for normal preparation.

It’s finally game week, though, and the Badgers’ upcoming battle against the Wolverines is a captivating one on many levels.

First, the Badgers:

The team will likely be without key contributors due to the Big Ten’s COVID-19 protocol. Those players, or how many there are, are not known. They did look utterly dominant in Week 1, though, but that could have been just what comes with playing Illinois.

Now, the Wolverines:

Harbaugh’s team sits at 1-2 on the season after disappointing losses against Michigan State and Indiana. They don’t have the talent to compete with Ohio State in the Big Ten East, but this year is shaping up to be yet another letdown for Michigan fans after Harbaugh came to the program with sky-high aspirations.

Then there’s the battle of young quarterbacks in Graham Mertz (hopefully) and Joe Milton, the Wolverines being the team that enters the game with a dominant rushing attack and Harbaugh’s squad losing arguably their best defensive player.

It is shaping up to be an interesting, interesting game.

So, without further ado, here are five keys to a Wisconsin victory on Saturday:

Related:

WATCH: Graham Mertz connects on a beautiful deep ball in practice

Last week Wisconsin starting quarterback Jack Coan went down in practice with a foot injury and is now out indefinitely, giving way to…

Last week Wisconsin starting quarterback Jack Coan went down in practice with a foot injury and is now out indefinitely.

When the news came out, many expected the starter to then be redshirt freshman Graham Mertz, the highest-rated quarterback recruit in program history. Well, in a press conference yesterday Quarterback Coach Jon Budmayr confirmed that sentiment, saying “That’s the path we’re on right now.”

So, with Mertz on track to be the Week 1 starter there comes one big thing: practice highlights.

Graham. Mertz. Deep ball… pic.twitter.com/7BCR4jOx7O

— Ben Kenney (@benzkenney) October 9, 2020

First of all, the pass to wide receiver Danny Davis goes at least 55 yards in the air. Second, it is the exact definition of “thrown on a rope.”

After hearing from the quarterback and his position coach at their press conference, it’s clear that both they and the team are confident in what Mertz will be able to do when he takes the field and in his ability to lead the team in Coan’s absence.

Here are some more highlights from the practice, including an impressive one-on-one win by freshman wide receiver Chimere Dike.

More highlights from #Badgers practice. pic.twitter.com/fPo9ZPRA7A

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) October 8, 2020

There are now only two weeks until Mertz and the Wisconsin Badgers take the field against the Illinois Fighting Illini. Though there is a question mark surrounding how Mertz will perform in his first collegiate start, videos of 55-yard ropes sure help whatever doubts people may have.