The Badger Herald: Sports: 5 Keys to Victory

Updated Saturday, November 21, 2009, at 6:41 p.m.

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Sports

5 Keys to Victory

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Friday, October 11, 2002 12:00 a.m.

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Addition not subtraction

Last week vs. Penn State, Wisconsin had ten plays that went for zero or negative yards. Seven of these plays were sacks, which accumulated a loss of 39 yards.

Indiana has only nine sacks on the entire year, so the offensive line should be able to give senior quarterback Brooks Bollinger time in the pocket. Bollinger has thrown extremely well when he is not rushed.

Wisconsin lost 99 yards on five penalties, which were huge when it came to keeping a Penn State drive going or killing one.

This weekend, the offensive line must step up and push back the weak defensive line of Indiana so Wisconsin can pile on the yards.

Bring it early

Indiana is coming off a bye week, and the Hoosiers’ last game was a big blowout loss to Ohio State. The Badgers can count on a fired-up and well-rested Indiana team. Last year at Camp Randall the Badgers came out flat against the Hoosiers and the weak team walked all over them.

“They got some momentum, we turned it over, and they kept it going,” head coach Barry Alvarez said of last year’s game. “We got so far behind, but I still thought we had a chance to get back into the game. When you give it to them as many times as we did, you don’t have much of a chance.”

In that game, Indiana scored 32 first-quarter points. Wisconsin has not had a road game for almost six weeks, and this is the Badgers’ first Big Ten road game. They need something a little extra and need to come out strong and score early.

Get off the field on third down

The Wisconsin defense has to step up on their third-down defense.

In the last three games, the opposing offense has succeeded approximately 40 percent of the time, not including a handful of penalties that have also given the opposition first downs.

Last week was the first time Wisconsin lost the time-of-possession battle, and it really showed on the defense. The longer the defense has to be on the field this weekend, the closer the game will be.

The Badgers must make stops on third downs.

Slow down the West Coast offense

The secondary was not impressive against Penn State’s air attack — it let Zach Mills pass for 287 yards, but, more importantly, let up big passes on third down.

This week, Indiana brings the West Coast offense of first-year coach Jerry DiNardo to the table.

This is a radically different offense compared to the past, when Indiana ran an option-based offense with now-Pittsburgh wide receiver Antwaan Randle El.

However, the new offense has yielded two new rising stars in junior wide receiver Glenn Johnson and sophomore Courtney Roby.

The two are establishing themselves as the best receiving tandem in the Big Ten.

The UW secondary will have to keep the two under control to keep the Indiana offense in check.

Perform under pressure

What defines any team is how it performs under pressure.

The Badgers, now 0-1 in the Big Ten, must stand up to the pressure in this early-season game.

“This team has shown character,” Alvarez said. “They’ve been put to the test in the fourth quarter, where they’ve had to respond to being behind in the fourth quarter.”

The Badgers have slipped to No. 22 in nationwide polls, and they don’t want to be on the slide going into an even bigger game next week vs. Ohio State.

This weekend will show which players will step up to the plate and that those players will be the ones who will take this team to the next level.

If the Badgers can show they can perform well under pressure this weekend, they should come away with a victory.