The Wisconsin season is on life support as the Badgers prepare to face off with a Michigan State club in a similar position. Both teams have struggled to find themselves in recent weeks and now face the realization that one of them will be 0-4 come Saturday night.
Contain Charlie Rodgers: It’s no secret that Rogers is the best receiver in the country and sure to be a top-five pick in next year’s draft, should he decide to declare early. It is tough to stop a man with talent like his, but if the Badgers are to get a win in East Lansing they will have to keep Rogers from the big play.
He certainly presents a difficult matchup for the Wisconsin DBs with his height advantage, and that will force the secondary to play a good amount of zone coverages with the focus on doubling Rogers.
The Badgers will need to limit his yards-per-catch and not let him get behind the safeties to be successful.
Control time of possession: The best defense is a good offense. Wisconsin will need a repeat performance from Anthony Davis, who is coming off his best game of the year against the No.4 Ohio State Buckeyes. Davis appears to have regained his form of a year ago and must carry the Wisconsin offense against a porous Spartan front four.
Win the turnover battle: Under Alvarez, Wisconsin is 44-15-1 if it wins the turnover battle, so it goes without saying a victory in the turnover department is a key ingredient to a win.
The Badgers must play smartly and avoid penalties that put them in third-and-long situations. On the defensive side of the field, Wisconsin can expect opportunities to come its way. Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker has had a very disappointing season following a great finish to last year. He has fallen well short of the high expectations he brought with his profile coming into his senior season and his confidence at this point is questionable. If the Badger defense can force an early interception it will get Smoker questioning his ability once again.
Take advantage of poor Spartan run defense: This is an area in which the Badgers should have a major advantage.
Anchored by the Johnson boys, the UW offensive line is one of the best in the country and should control the battle in the trenches.
This will allow Anthony Davis to run wild and provide opportunities for the passing attack to hit on a few big plays, which have been tough to come by this season.
Ignore the Spartans’ record: In the past few years, the Badgers have had problems with teams they should have beaten.
Take, for instance, Northern Illinois or Indiana in the past month. For one reason or another, the Badgers have been vulnerable to playing down to the competition, and while that’s the recipe against top teams, it can be devastating against less-talented teams.
Michigan State has looked more like a high school team in the past few weeks, with embarrassing blowout losses to Minnesota and Iowa. The Spartans seem to have lost their identity as a football team.
The Badgers cannot take the Spartans for granted, and they should expect them to come out in front of their home fans at night and play their best football of the season.
With a win Saturday, a season that seemed lost can be rescued. The Badgers would move to 6-3 overall, just a win away from becoming bowl-eligible with four games remaining on the schedule.
