It has been a season of streaks for the (6-5) Wisconsin Badgers. After beginning the season with five consecutive non-conference victories and being ranked as high as No. 15 nationally, Wisconsin has suffered 2 losing streaks in the Big Ten: one of three games and another of two.

Wisconsin heads into Michigan Stadium hoping to regain some of its early-season form after a difficult week of dealing with a myriad of off-field problems ended in a 37-20 loss to the Fighting Illini.

For the Barry Alvarez-led Wisconsin Badgers, the first step to getting their season back on track has been getting healthy. Senior quarterback Brooks Bollinger was forced to sit out last week’s game after being knocked out of the previous game against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City with a head injury. It was the second time he was unable to finish a game this season due to a concussion.

Experienced back-up and Michigan native Jim Sorgi has also missed time recently as he has battled an injury to his hand. The Badgers have also had to rely heavily on freshmen tailback Dwayne Smith recently. Smith picked up the first start of his college career last weekend after preseason All-American Anthony Davis was forced to miss the game after being stabbed in the thigh a week earlier. Fortunately for the Badgers, Davis has been cleared to play and should not be hampered by his injury.

Freshman Jonathan Orr, a Detroit native, is the Badgers’ leading pass-catcher with 45 receptions for 792 yards and eight touchdowns. Orr, already the UW freshman record-holder for receiving yards in a season, is closing in on becoming the first freshman in Big Ten history to register 1,000 receiving yards. He also needs just one more TD catch to tie the single-season school record held by Lee Evans and Al Toon.

With Bollinger back in the lineup the Badgers have the third most efficient passer in the league at quarterback. Bollinger is a threat not only in the passing game but also using his feet. After returning from a previous concussion earlier this season the senior quarterback accounted for five touchdowns in his comeback game.

Wisconsin leads the conference in takeaways yet has the tendency to be out of position and blow coverage assignments at least a few times every game. This very trait was displayed last weekend versus Illinois when the Wisconsin defense collected five turnovers, but still gave up 504 yards and four touchdowns in the losing effort.

“We got the turnovers, but the offense isn’t capitalizing on them right now,” said safety Jim Leonhard.

For the Badgers, Saturday’s game is a must-win. Wisconsin has managed only one win in the Big Ten, but still has things to play for. With a win UW would become bowl-eligible with one game remaining against Minnesota in Madison to close out the season.

Despite the recent losses, Wisconsin players have not given up on the season and say they believe they are still a good team. But Leonhard acknowledges that there are some differences in the way the team is playing now.

“I would have to say (the difference is) our attitude,” Leonhard said. “The intensity. Everybody has to pick it back up and get back to where we were before.”

Wisconsin has struggled in recent years against high-octane offenses like those of Illinois and Indiana but has remained surprisingly good against traditional Big Ten powers such as Michigan and Ohio State. Last season the Badgers lost to Michigan at Camp Randall in an extremely close game that was ultimately decided by the special-teams play. It was the best defensive performance for the Badgers last year.

However, several of Michigan’s apparent strengths this season are also Wisconsin’s weaknesses. Wisconsin owns the third worst passing defense in the league and has particularly struggled against teams that have big receivers or a dominating tight end.

The Badgers were victimized by Iowa’s tight end, Dallas Clark, two weeks ago and struggled to contend with 6-foot-5 Walter Young last week. Michigan should find it productive to keep Bennie Joppru and Braylon Edwards, two players who possess similar abilities to Clark and Young, heavily involved in the offense as the going will most likely be easier through the air.

Although Michigan’s pass defense has been porous throughout the season, Wisconsin will play its traditional game and attempt to establish the run first and pass second. The power running game is the Badgers’ bread and butter. Anthony Davis is over 1,000 yards for the second consecutive year and the Badgers’ have had a back over the 1,000-yard mark for 10 straight seasons.

If Michigan allows Wisconsin to pick up good yardage running the ball on early downs, then the offense can play action and become very productive through the air. Should the Wolverines be able to stop the run on early downs, keeping Wisconsin in long yardage situations, then the Badgers can be hurt by the blitz. Badger quarterbacks have been sacked an incredible 41 times despite playing behind a very large and experienced offensive line.

No Wisconsin player on the current roster has ever beaten Michigan despite having won two Rose Bowls in the past five seasons. Not that UW needs the extra motivation. The only goal they have is getting bowl-eligible. Doing it against Michigan would just sweeten the prize.