For the University of Minnesota football team (3-3 Big Ten, 6-3 overall) it is said that as the running game goes, so go the Gophers' fortunes. The University of Wisconsin Badgers (5-0, 8-0) are well aware of this fact as they hope to contain the U of M ground game and recapture Paul Bunyan's Axe Saturday at Camp Randall.
The Minnesota ground game is a two-pronged attack. Junior running back Marion Barber III and sophomore running back Laurence Maroney have already combined for an astounding 1,911 rushing yards this season. Together they comprise arguably the most dangerous backfield in college football.
Do not expect any Badger to take the Minnesota backfield lightly Saturday.
\They're both great backs, Maroney and Barber III back there,"" UW junior safety Robert Brooks said. ""I mean, a lot of people call it the best running back tandem in the nation. They certainly have the potential to be that each and every week.""
Yet, as dominant as Maroney and Barber have been this season, in the Gophers' three losses the opposition kept the pair from reaching their usually outstanding yardage totals. Against Michigan, Michigan State and Indiana, all losses, Minnesota averaged just 153.3 yards per game. It is a respectable total but a far cry from the 320-plus yards the backfield averages in victories.
That stat bodes well for the Badgers, who have snuffed-out their opponents' running games all season long. The defense allows, on average, less than 90 yards per game, and according to several of the players, the Badgers do not plan on changing a thing in anticipation of Maroney and Barber.
""It's going to be our same game plan,"" junior defensive back Brett Bell said. ""It's going to be [defensive coordinator Bret Bielema's] game plan ... he's been 8-0 for game plans, so he's going to have something good for us. We've been practicing it for three days now and he knows what he's doing.""
A big part of that defensive success has been junior linebacker Dontez Sanders, who leads the team with 53 tackles. For Sanders, the task is simple. If the Badgers want to contain Minnesota, they have to keep Maroney and Barber under wraps, which all starts by making tackles and preventing the Gopher backs from running freely.
""Every game, we have a goal to not have a back rush over 100 yards, so we're just going to go and hold them at less than that,"" Sanders said.
But two weeks ago, Northwestern senior running back Noah Herron was able to crack the vaunted UW defense to the tune of 109 yards rushing. The Badgers' have made the needed adjustments and do not plan on letting that happen again.
""We have to pick up our intensity level,"" Brooks said. ""That's one thing that will change, because we know we have to be ready for anything. We have to be ready for the tricks that they might pull out. We have to be ready for them getting out on the edge, but also coming straight at us ... we're just prepared for everything.""
There may not be an easy answer for stopping the Minnesota running game but, according to both Brooks and Sanders, the job starts with doing the basic things and playing defense the same way they have all season.
""Tackle, just go out there and tackle hard and tackle good. Just play physical with it, just play Badger style,"" Sanders said.
