The 2-0 and No. 10-ranked Wisconsin Badgers are not off to the start that many expected. No, not because of their record, but because the team has only been able to play two games through the first four weeks of the season.
If you didn’t already know, the Big Ten requires teams to play at least six games in order to qualify for the Big Ten Championship game. That means, that the Badgers will need to play all of their remaining four games without any interruption if they want a shot at winning their first Big Ten title since 2012.
The COVID-19 outbreak within the program and the two canceled games aside, when the Badgers have been on the field this season they’ve been nothing short of dominant–outscoring Illinois and Michigan by a combined 76 points.
Both Illinois and Michigan, though, have played poorly this season and didn’t give Paul Chryst’s team a real test, one which they have on Saturday against the 4-0 and No. 19-ranked Northwestern Wildcats.
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On Monday, Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald met with the media and discussed both the team’s win against Purdue and their upcoming contest against Wisconsin.
First, Fitzgerald raved about the defensive depth that his team has and talked about what made Saturday’s contest against Purdue a successful one. He also said that his team hasn’t played a complete game thus far this season, noting that they are still yet to put together a complete defensive, offensive and special teams performance.
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The focus then shifted to Wisconsin, and Fitzgerald had great things to say about the Badgers and where they are as a team, saying they play “a physical, unselfish and complementary style of football” and are a “very complete team.”
On the Badger offense specifically, the Northwestern head coach had a lot of good things to say:
“We’ve got our hands full…to their players’ credit, in both games they executed almost to perfection. It was really fun football to watch. They’re Wisconsin, they’re gonna have good balance and they’re gonna punish you up front.”
After Fitzgerald’s media availability on Monday, Northwestern assistant coaches and players followed up on Wednesday with similar sentiments.
Offensive lineman Gunnar Vogel on Wisconsin’s blitzing:
“At the end of the day it comes down to our footwork and our eyes in pass protection and communicating to each other to pass stuff off. It definitely is a lot. It’s a very different from what we faced last week, but we’re used to playing these guys and we know what to expect as far as the type of defense we’re going to play. It’ll be different, but if we’re all communicating and on the same page I think we’re going to have success at blocking these guys.”
Defensive lineman Adetomiwa Adebawore on the Badgers’ offensive line and stopping the run:
“They’re definitely bigger guys, so we understand that it’s going to be a physical game. We just gotta make sure we use the correct techniques that we work on each and every day and we’ll be alright.”
“No matter what, we’re going to have to do our jobs and focus on our keys. That’s really been the focus. It doesn’t really change much for us we just gotta make sure we’re doing our part and doing our jobs.”
Finally, Defensive Back Coach Matt MacPherson spoke about tight end Jake Ferguson, noting that “he runs good routes, is able to separate and can catch the contested ball. He’s tough to defend because he is such a big body. Because he has the big frame but runs good routes and able to separate, that’s always going to be a problem.”
The Badgers will take the field in Evanston, Illinois at 2:30 CST against the Big Ten West-leading Wildcats in a game that will likely decide who goes to the Big Ten Championship game.
Stay tuned to BadgersWire as we preview the contest and continue to follow the Badgers’ rest-of-season outlook.
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