Tag: Penn State

Five keys to a Wisconsin victory over Penn State on Saturday

@Benzkenney presents the five keys to a Wisconsin #Badger victory over Penn State on Saturday:

The Wisconsin Badgers are set to kick off their 2021 campaign and begin their quest for their first Big Ten Championship in 10 years.

The quest starts off with a bang, though, as No. 19 Penn State comes to town and, even though it’s Week 1, will end up presenting one of the toughest tests of the Badgers’ season.

Storylines are aplenty on both sides of the football field, with both the Badgers and Nittany Lions looking for bounce-back seasons after struggling in 2020. Each team has a quarterback who has shown greatness and struggled at times, both have talent all over the field and both will be playing in front of fans for the first time in nearly two years.

Related: Film room: How can Wisconsin stop Penn State’s offensive attack?

Paul Chryst’s Wisconsin team will need to do a lot right in order to come away from Camp Randall with a win on Saturday.

Here are my five biggest keys to victory:

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Penn State HC James Franklin on why they didn’t release a Week 1 depth chart

Here’s why James Franklin did not release a depth chart ahead of the Wisconsin game:

College athletics and a lack of depth charts, a pairing that can drive play-by-play announcers insane. That’s coming from some tough personal experience.

While Wisconsin did release a depth chart ahead of Week 1 against Penn State, the Nittany Lions have decided not to release any depth chart. As head coach James Franklin pointed out in his press conference earlier this week, Penn State is not alone in that decision.

“We’ve always released a depth chart. I really don’t have a strong opinion either way,” Franklin said when discussing the subject of the depth chart. “There’s been multiple schools in the conference that haven’t been releasing it for a number of years. This year, we found out that Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Purdue either were not releasing it or were thinking about not releasing it, so it just didn’t make sense for us to do it if others weren’t.”

The Badgers certainly know exactly how Penn State will line up at nearly all positions come Saturday, so consider this more of coaches being paranoid than anything that can truly affect the outcome of Week 1.

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

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like them on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.

Wisconsin football releases its official Week 1 depth chart

Wisconsin football releases its official Week 1 depth chart

The Wisconsin football program released their official Week 1 depth chart in advance of Saturday’s matchup against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

There aren’t any huge surprises, as both the offense and defense reflect our recent depth chart projections (offense, defense) and what we’ve heard during training camp.

Some things to note, though, is Chez Mellusi slated as RB1, Joe Tippmann confirmed as the team’s starting center and Collin Larsh slated as the field goal kicker.

Additionally, the depth chart features a wealth of depth in the secondary and at offensive line, two positions that figure to be strong on this year’s team.

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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Five Wisconsin Badgers in line to surprise this season

Five Wisconsin Badgers in line to surprise this season

The Wisconsin Badgers will take the field at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday and open their 2021 season against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The game will show us a lot about who this 2021 team is, as both they and the Nittany Lions are set for bounce-back seasons after struggling for the most part last year.

Related: BadgersWire’s official 2021 Big Ten football season predictions

It won’t be the result that tells us that story, though, as Penn State will be a really tough test. What will do that is how Graham Mertz looks in his first action of the season, what the defensive end position looks like without Isaiahh Loudermilk and Garrett Rand and whether Jalen Berger and Chez Mellusi can form a lethal duo in the backfield.

As part of our season preview series, I went through the roster today and focused on five players that are set to surprise this season.

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Where Notre Dame landed in first USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll

The USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll is out, are the rankings fair?

The season is here, or at least very close as the first USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll has been released. Preseason polls are always going to bring a lot of controversy, as we have no idea how good any team will be. Notre Dame is in that boat but they, like many other teams are getting the benefit of the doubt. Find out below where the Irish get ranked along with the rest of the Top 25.

Wisconsin football announces another ‘Stripe-Out’ game at Camp Randall Stadium

Wisconsin football announces another ‘Stripe-Out’ game at Camp Randall Stadium

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The last time the Wisconsin Badgers had fans at Camp Randall Stadium it was the year 2019, a season that saw the team not lose a single contest at home.

One of those fall Saturdays was a Camp Randall ‘Stripe-Out’ against the Michigan Wolverines.

Sep 21, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Wisconsin Badgers line up for a play during the third quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Badgers won 35-14 that day, dominating Michigan thanks to a 200-yard day from Jonathan Taylor and a 4-turnover day from Jim Leonhard’s defense.

The scene was electric and was not hurt by the Badgers’ stellar play on the field.

Well, it is also a scene that will be returning to the friendly confines in just over five weeks, as a Wisconsin football tweet from earlier today named September 4’s season-opener against Penn State a ‘Stripe-Out’ game.

Like so many others, I cannot wait to see a packed house in Madison for the first time in nearly two years.

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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Notre Dame presents offer to forward recruit Alex Karaban

The Irish are after a forward that’s on a bunch of schools’ radars.

Notre Dame is going after a player who has every intention of taking advantage of as many opportunities as possible. For the past two years, forward recruit Alex Karaban has played prep basketball in New Hampton, New Hampshire. As a senior, he will attend the renowned IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. That commitment to excellence was too good for the Irish to ignore, so they decided to become the latest program to make him an offer:

It’s hard to know for certain which direction Karaban is leaning towards. 247Sports believes Penn State and Northwestern, two schools he made official visits to in June, are the top contenders. Rivals forecasts him heading to Indiana. Of course, he also could choose one of the many other schools that have offered him, including Purdue, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Iowa, UConn, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Stanford, LSU, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Creighton and even Harvard.

Notre Dame lands 3-star cornerback recruit Jayden Bellamy

The Irish have a new future cornerback.

Notre Dame’s secondary will be getting a big boost after the coming season. Jayden Bellamy, a three-star cornerback and Oradell, New Jersey, native who plays at Bergen Catholic, has committed to the Irish:

Bellamy, who made an official visit to Notre Dame on June 18, chose the Irish after previously narrowing his selection down to them, Rutgers and Penn State. Before that, he had a slightly bigger finalist field of Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma.

When asked by Blue and Gold why he picked the Irish, Bellamy, the 17th commitment among players who will arrive in South Bend in 2022, said the following:

“Academics played a big part, and I bonded the best with Coach [Mike] Mickens, Coach [Marcus] Freeman and the whole staff. When I was with them during the visit, we were making a lot of jokes, and ever since they offered me, they went after me hard. That played a part, too.”

The Irish stand to lose only a few senior cornerbacks after the 2021 season. The majority of that unit is made up of freshmen and sophomores. By the time Bellamy comes, that group will have gotten to know each other a lot. There will be no shortage of players to show him the ropes. The best part for Bellamy is this is the group he will consider his brothers going forward.

2021 Big Ten-ACC Challenge matchups released

See who’s playing who in this year’s edition of the exciting event.

One of the biggest events of the college basketball season, at least in certain parts of the country, is the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. This is when teams from two of the nation’s power conferences get together to see which of the conferences is better. Historically, the ACC has the upper hand with a 12-7-3 advantage in the series and a 138-113 record. The Big Ten won’t be able to catch up in either category this year’s event, but maybe it can make up some ground with these matchups:

2021 Big Ten-ACC Challenge matchups released

See who’s playing who in this year’s edition of the exciting event.

One of the biggest events of the college basketball season, at least in certain parts of the country, is the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. This is when teams from two of the nation’s power conferences get together to see which of the conferences is better. Historically, the ACC has the upper hand with a 12-7-3 advantage in the series and a 138-113 record. The Big Ten won’t be able to catch up in either category this year’s event, but maybe it can make up some ground with these matchups: