With two wins in the final two games needed for a bowl bid, Wisconsin’s offense will need to put up big numbers against a consistent and dominating Michigan team.
There is no more time for explanations, for talking about inexperience, youth or injuries. It’s time for the talking to end and the playing to begin as the Badgers’ fate lies in their own hands.
“Our backs are completely against the wall; we just have to put everything we’ve got out there and let the chips fall where they do,” UW quarterback Brooks Bollinger said. “I don’t think there is anyone that is uptight or worried about it, it’s just a matter of our backs are against the wall, we’re in a corner, and we don’t really have a choice.”
In order to beat a team as competitive as the Wolverines, UW’s offense cannot afford to seesaw from cold to hot throughout the game.
With the defense having its own problems containing powerful offensive teams, the offense is going to have to score and score early.
Wisconsin can’t expect any big comebacks like the one demonstrated against Ohio State, in which Wisconsin came back from a 17-0 half-time deficit to shut out the Ohio State offense in the second half.
Michigan is too good and too sharp, with its own BCS bowl hopes on the line as well.
“They are a good football team that is able to make big plays when it counts,” UW head coach Barry Alvarez said. “I think they are going to be the toughest defense we will have seen all year.”
The key to scoring on the fierce Michigan defense is wide receiver Lee Evans. Evans is averaging 136.3 yards per game and most recently had a season-high 228 yards against Michigan State.
To get the offense producing, UW needs to throw the ball to him and keep throwing the ball to him. He is a playmaker and has the speed and agility to dismantle the Wolverine defense.
While Alvarez has maintained a strong Badger running game over the years, in order to win Bollinger will have to put the ball in the air, despite the tough pressure from Michigan’s defensive line.
“I think that [Michigan’s defensive line] is good at recognizing weakness in your pressure and how to attack it,” Bollinger said, whose first game was against Michigan two years ago, when he replaced the injured Scott Kavanaugh. “I think [stopping their pressure] is something that last year we did better, and I think we have a really good plan for it this year.”
One advantage going for Wisconsin is the fact that they had a week off this past weekend to rest and prepare for what will be the most important game of their unbalanced season.
“We would have really been shorthanded last week had we had to play Saturday,” Alvarez said. “I think we’ve gone two years without an open date, so it was something new for most of our guys, but I think we used it wisely. We were able to get a lot of people healthy.”
Michigan is an almost flawless team in all aspects of the game. For Wisconsin to become victorious, they are going to have to do something they haven’t done all season long: play a flawless game. No penalties, no turnovers, no mistakes.
“In the past we have given up points on some mistakes that would have made the difference in the game,” Alvarez said. “You cannot do that against them.”
In the end, it will be up to the seniors, who have led the Badgers to two Big Ten titles and two Rose Bowl rings in the last three years, to finally lead Wisconsin to victory over Michigan in the final home game of their careers.