Now in the final rallying stages of a tough year, the Wisconsin defense should be physically and mentally exhausted.
After getting trounced at home against Indiana, both the unit’s performance and reputation have soured, and the defense has being rightfully granted a majority of the blame for the team’s struggles this year.
Yet if the demeanor of senior linebacker Nick Greisen can be used as any sort of testimonial to the current condition of his teammates, rest assured that the Badgers’ defense will be ready when the Michigan Wolverines come to town this weekend for Wisconsin’s home finale.
“[This game] means a lot,” Greisen said in a surprisingly confident and controlled tone. “I’ve never beat Michigan. It’ll be a huge game for all the older guys because they have never beat Michigan, and the younger guys have never even seen Michigan.”
Greisen has reason to remain optimistic, as Michigan (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten), a team traditionally laden with talent, has proven to be vulnerable this year. After struggling at Illinois earlier in the year, the Wolverines needed to employ a variety of trick plays to open up some offensive production. Subsequently, that strategy has become a trend. So much of a trend in fact, that Wisconsin has been practicing diligently and expects to encounter the tactic at some point in the game on Saturday.
“We’ve seen a bunch of [trick plays] this week at practice,” senior free safety Joey Boese said. “They have certain tendencies a little bit with that, when they run it and what situation they want to run it.”
Added Greisen,”[There are] certain things we look for, certain formations that they run [trick plays] out of. We need to be ready for them, go over them in practice, and execute on Saturday.”
The Wolverines feature a solid, but not exceptional, offense that revolves around three key players. Senior Marquise Walker, a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to college football’s top wide receiver, heads the list.
Walker has emerged this season as Michigan’s go-to guy after playing in the shadows of former all-American David Terrell for three seasons. Walker stands tied for second with Terrell in all-time receptions by a Wolverine, needing just 10 more catches to break Anthony Carter’s school record of 162.
However, the Wisconsin defense feels it is properly equipped to handle Walker. UW senior cornerback Mike Echols, similarly overshadowed last year by a more high-profile teammate who declared early for the NFL draft, will be responsible for covering Walker one-on-one much of the afternoon.
“[Marquise] is their best player,” senior safety Joey Boese said. “I think they will try to get him the ball every way they can. We’re going to do a couple of things to change things up, maybe try to put Mike [Echols] on him a little bit more than we usually would. Hopefully that would nullify him a little bit. ”
The other two who constitute Michigan’s star trio are quarterback John Navarre and tailback B.J. Askew.
Navarre, a former prep star at Cudahy High School in southeastern Wisconsin, has been superb this year after stepping into the starting role when Drew Henson gave up the job to concentrate on baseball. Navarre is an accurate thrower with good intelligence, and on paper looks dangerous to the Badgers. However, he is also much less mobile than the scrambling-type quarterbacks who have given the Wisconsin defense fits. It will be that immobility that will come into the spotlight as UW pressures and attacks the Michigan offense.
Askew, a good runner with above-average receiving skills, will be involved early and often, gaining a majority of touches when Michigan has the ball. But Wisconsin matches up well against him with Greisen and the other UW linebackers’ quickness, which Wisconsin is confident will minimize his effectiveness.
The resounding theme remains that Wisconsin’s defense will refuse to flounder under the immense pressure of a possible loss to Michigan, which would erase any thoughts of the Badgers’ bowl hopes. Instead, it is now certain that UW is geared up to go to war with the Wolverines on Saturday.
“They have a lot of tendencies,” Boese said. “They’re going to run the plays that they run, and they’re basically going to lineup and say ‘This is what we do.’ We know what’s coming, and we’re just going to have to stop it.”
“It’ll be a good one,” Greisen promised.
