Wisconsin football and good defense: words that are seemingly inseparable. Tomorrow the new-look Badger defense will take the field and…
Wisconsin football and good defense: words that are seemingly inseparable.
Tomorrow the new-look Badger defense will take the field and look to build upon their impressive 2019 campaign, though obviously will do so without the services of Zack Baun and Chris Orr.
As I wrote in my five keys to victory, there are two major things the Badger defense must do tomorrow if they want to shut down the Illinois Fighting Illini and help the team come away with a victory.
Related: Players to watch in the Illinois vs. Wisconsin matchup tomorrow
The first: they must hold Illinois to under 3 yards-per-carry.
As Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard said this week, “for us it always starts with stopping the run. When we do a good job of stopping the run we can dictate a little bit more, we can be a little more aggressive.”
Any Badger fan when asked about what the defense needs to do well would cite the run game, but it’s more than just shutting down the opposing running back. If they can hold the Fighting Illini to under 3 yards-per-carry they will force the issue in the passing game and create turnovers, get their opponent to third-and-long scenarios and get off the field and, overall, allow the Badger offense to dictate the football game.
You don’t need me to tell you this, but the unit did not do that last season when they visited Illinois as they allowed 141 yards on the ground with a clip of 4 yards-per-carry.
This isn’t only about last year’s contest between the two, though, as holding opponents to less than 3 yards-per-carry last season actually had a significant effect on whether the Badgers won each game.
Their record last season when they held their opponent to less than 3 yards-per-carry? 8-1 with the only loss coming against Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Their record last season when didn’t? 2-3.
It sounds obvious at first, but shutting down the Fighting Illini in the running game will dictate whether the defense is effective.
Related: Breaking down the strangest stat from last year’s loss at Illinois
Now on to major focal point No. 2: taking Illinois wide receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe out of the game.
Last year Imatorbhebhe was the Fighting Illini’s leading receiver with 33 catches for 634 yards and 9 touchdowns, one of those catches being a 29-yard touchdown against the Badgers.
Leonhard returns his entire secondary from last season–a unit that projects to be one of the best the conference has to offer. So, for them to shut down the Illinois passing attack on Friday they must take Imatorbhebhe out of the game.
The wide receiver is a big, physical, point-of-catch, big-playmaking wide receiver with late-round NFL Draft potential. Oh, and he averaged an insane 19.2 yards-per-reception last year.
Leonhard’s secondary has the talent to shut him down but it will need to be done on the field if the defense is going to play a complete game and have success.
If the Badger defense comes out on Friday and consistently wins in the trenches against Illinois in addition to shutting down Imatorbhebhe they will have a successful outing. If not? It could become a close game and give Badger fans scary flashbacks to last year’s contest.
