After leading his team to three consecutive Rose Bowl appearances and winning three consecutive Big Ten titles, Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema decided to leave Wisconsin to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks. A little more than two weeks later on Dec. 20, Gary Andersen was named the new head coach. Four months into the job, Andersen seems more comfortable than ever.

After giving the team this past weekend off, Andersen immediately jumped into the team’s plan for the week during his Monday press conference. Monday’s practice consisted of a short scrimmage, about 70 to 80 snaps. On Wednesday, the team will have a regular practice, a final preparation for Saturday’s Spring Game.

“I’d love to have 80 or 90 thousand. It would be perfect. But it will be awesome however many people come out there,” Andersen said. “I think it’s important that the fans can come, there’s a lot to do. It’s [going to be] a spring day hopefully and it will be great to see everyone come out.

“It’s great for the kids, it’s great for the fans. I think it’s going to be a true game now when we talk about,” Andersen said. “A lot of people have been asking me ‘is it a game, is it not a game?’ It’s offense versus defense, but it is a game. It will feel much like a game.”

The scoring system for the Spring Game has been unclear to fans in the past. On offense, scoring is standard, but runs for 15-plus yards, passes of 20-plus yards, and first downs are also ways to score.

On defense, touchdowns and safeties still exist, but now a turnover will give the defense five points, a three-and-out three points, a blocked field goal three points and a stopped drive, sack, or tackle for a loss will result in two points. If needed, Andersen will playfully step in.

“It’s true scoring. If I, at times, need to maybe skew the score to make it close, then I might have do that,” he said. “We’ll make it fun and entertaining for everyone that’s out there.”

The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network this Saturday starting at 4 p.m. But the question on many minds is who will be the starting quarterback. When asked if every quarterback would be given a chance to play, Andersen included the entire squad in the discussion.

“Yeah, everybody will get reps on the whole football team,” Andersen said. “That’s important to me in the Spring Game. The young man that’s come in and put in the work, he deserves to get out there in front of the fans, his family members, whoever may come.”

With the Spring Game being televised, as many other Big Ten schools’ games are, the question of early scouting for Wisconsin opponents also came up. With that idea in mind, however, Andersen may have scooped the spectators a bit, alluding to the fact that fans shouldn’t expect anything “crazy” on Saturday because he is sure other Big Ten schools will be tuning in.

“You can’t help it. Get to see some personnel and give you an idea of the team’s identity,” he said. “I’m sure this Spring Game for us will be dissected by every team that we play. In those terms, we will be fairly generic on Saturday. We’re not going to show everything out there.”