The Wisconsin Badgers’ offense hopes that this time the second time will be the charm.
In last week’s 42-35 loss at Illinois, the Illini’s defense ravaged the Badger offense, applying constant pressure and challenging Wisconsin to consistently come up with big plays to win. This week, when the Badgers host Michigan State, they will get a second opportunity to prove themselves. Wisconsin will face a Spartan defense based on a similar strategy, in an attempt to emulate Illinois’s success.
“[Michigan State] is a blitz team,” Wisconsin head football coach Barry Alvarez said. “They changed up what they did against us last year and they were successful with what
they did. I would anticipate them doing something very similar [on Saturday].”
Despite putting up 35 points against Illinois last week, the Wisconsin offense often appeared inconsistent and unable to sustain a time-consuming drive.
After a groin injury knocked Wisconsin starting quarterback Brooks Bollinger out of the game, the Illinois defense opened up on reserve quarterback Jim Sorgi and the rest of the Badger offense, using an extremely aggressive and extensive blitzing scheme with a lot of man-to-man coverage. This was all in a sustained effort to take advantage of Sorgi’s immobility and inability to escape the pocket.
“I think [Sorgi’s] timing was a bit off early,” Alvarez said. “I think in the second half he really got his rhythm back and threw the ball better. But he wasn’t really crisp when he came in.”
Alvarez was also critical of his team’s offense as a whole.
“We haven’t moved the ball consistently,” Alvarez said. “We’ve gotten yardage in chunks, but for the most part we haven’t been able to hold on to the ball for a long period of time. I would like to play that way. I think it’s good for the defense, and it lends well to how we think and what we like to do.
However, even though Wisconsin (4-4, 2-2 Big Ten) could not be expected to foresee the injury to Bollinger and the subsequent aggression by the Illini’s defense last week, there will be no surprises this week. The Badgers must be ready.
Leading Michigan State (3-2, 1-2) is second-year head coach Bobby Williams, with the assistance of experienced defensive coordinator Bill Miller, a holdover from former Spartan head coach Nick Saban’s era. Miller is considered a crafty veteran coach who employs a mix of coverages to go with his calculated and cautious blitzes.
However, Miller’s defense has struggled as of late, falling fate to the same circumstances that surrounded his dismissal as defensive coordinator of the Miami Hurricanes in 1998.
The Spartans defense has appeared undisciplined and has underachieved, giving up 326 yards rushing alone to Big Ten bottom-dweller Minnesota last week, despite the presence of all-Big Ten senior middle linebacker Josh Thornhill.
In striking similarities to the problems the Badgers’ own defense has encountered, the Spartans have been a model for the so-called “rubber-band defense,” counting on their ability to force turnovers to end opponent’s drives.
After the loss to Minnesota, Michigan State coaches and players stressed the need for a big defensive game to stifle the Badger offense and to regain the unit’s confidence in order to grind out the remaining Big Ten season. That confidence might come in the unit’s attempt to copy Illinois and harass the Badgers’ quarterbacks.
And if that strategy is indeed employed, it might also provide the Wisconsin offense the perfect opportunity for a second chance at exploiting it.
“You have to take things as they go,” said Sorgi, who may again see significant playing time this week, depending on the status of Bollinger, who is listed as day-to-day. “You kind of want to take time off the clock, not have their offense on the field as much, give our defense a break. [But] you have to score points no matter what you do.”
Wide receiver Lee Evans agreed.
“Sometimes you have to take what the defenses give you,” Evans said. “Defenses really want to blitz us. Unless you want to slam into a bull, you have to put it over the top.”
In addition to big plays, Wisconsin will also try once again to get back to its bread-and-butter, a ball-control offense with short passes complemented by a consistent running game. Although an aggressive attack could leave a young and inexperienced Michigan State defensive backfield susceptible, UW might instead try to implement their traditionally strong running attack on a Spartan defense admittedly prone to having trouble containing long outside runs.
That could allow redshirt freshman running back Anthony Davis to continue his march to prominence in his partnership with Evans as one of the few tandems in the history of the Big Ten to gain 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in a single season.
The Badgers realize the uniqueness of this individual achievement, but ultimately they are more concerned with the task at hand. The Wisconsin offense realizes and relishes a second chance to its ability to beat the pressure defense this weekend. And if one thing is certain, it is that the Badgers remain motivated not to forego the chance to take advantage of this second opportunity. They also hope and expect that this time will be the charm.
“We only have four Big Ten regular season games left,” Sorgi said. “To get that extra bonus game, you have to win a majority of these last four. So now, we just have to dig deep.”
