Wisconsin looks to rebound from their shocking loss to Northwestern when they travel to Minneapolis Saturday to take on the Golden Gophers. The Badgers are coming off a bye and are looking to vault back to the upper tier of the conference. Minnesota tuned up for the game by destroying Indiana last week 55-7. If the Badgers want to keep Paul Bunyon’s Axe, they should keep these five keys in mind.
Shake off the rust
Saturday will mark two weeks since Wisconsin last played. Though a bye week lets a team rest and recover from injuries, it also allows a team to pick up some rust. The Badgers better shake off any rust right away because Minnesota is going to be hungry to win the axe back.
In the three losses this year, the Badgers have fallen behind early. Getting off to a good start on offense as well as defense will be crucial to the Badgers’ success.
Win the war in the trenches
Wisconsin was physically manhandled on both sides of the ball in their loss to Northwestern. They could not run the ball on offense and got ran over on defense. The Badgers must be able to run the ball Saturday. With Anthony Davis out, Dwayne Smith and Booker Stanley must be ready to fill in.
Wisconsin also has to shut down Minnesota’s running game. The Gophers come into the game with the nation’s second-best rushing attack. Marion Barber III, Lawrence Maroney and Thomas Tapeh are all capable of going for over 100 yards so Jeff Mack, Anttaj Hawthorne, Alex Lewis and company had better pull their chin straps on a little tighter come Saturday.
Shut down Asad Abdul-Khaliq
Wisconsin has had problems facing quality quarterbacks this year, as evidenced by what Kyle Orton and Charlie Frye did to the secondary, and the Gophers’ Abdul-Khaliq is as good as they come in college football.
Abdul-Khaliq leads the nation in passing efficiency, throwing for 17 touchdowns against only 4 interceptions. He also is a threat on the ground as he has rushed for 345 yards and 3 touchdowns so far this year. The burden of stopping him through the air has fallen on Wisconsin’s cornerback duo of Scott Starks and Levonne Rowan, along with safety Jim Leonhard. Linebackers Jeff Mack and Alex Lewis will need to contain Abdul-Khaliq’s scrambling.
Get Jim Sorgi back on track
Jim Sorgi has not played for three weeks, and even before his knee injury he was struggling. The Badgers’ strong receiving corps has been underused all year and should be able to exploit a weak Gopher secondary.
Sorgi may be a little rusty due to the time off, but he needs to have a solid game for the Badgers to win. He says that he is having the most fun he’s had all year and now he needs to go out and prove that he can be a big-time quarterback.
Win the turnover battle
Turnovers always play a large role in games and they seem to stand out even more in close games. The Badgers need to look only at the UNLV game and see what happens when you turn the ball over numerous times.
When Michigan beat Minnesota at the dome earlier in the year it was an interception return for a touchdown that sparked their amazing come from behind victory. The Badgers need their playmakers on defense, such as Leonhard, Mack or Lewis, to force a couple of turnovers to swing momentum to their side.
Wisconsin must come ready to play this Saturday if they want to beat an explosive Minnesota team. The Badgers must regain the confidence they had early in the season if they want to keep Paul Bunyon’s axe in Madison.
