Banged up Badgers
Halftime has been kind to Barry's boys this season. The Badgers have saved their best for late in the game, outscoring opponents 62-16 in the second half, but the flip side is that the Badgers have not played well in the first half. They trailed 13-0 to Bowling Green and 10-0 to Michigan.
The Badgers would be well served to get off to a good start and put the Hoosiers away early to get some rest for the starters. The defense is banged up, and junior running back Brian Calhoun has been a workhorse all season. He leads the nation in carries with 127, despite logging minimal playing time in the Temple game where he rested for the last quarters. The Badger offense fell apart last season when Anthony Davis got hurt. Keeping Calhoun healthy is just as important, if not more so for this squad. Head coach Barry Alvarez has said he will try and get sophomore running back Booker Stanley in the game early to give Calhoun some much needed rest. A quick start would allow him to kick back and get ready for next week.
The new Hoosier daddy
Indiana has not had a winning season since 1994. They went 3-21 in the Big Ten over the past three years.
However, the Hoosiers come to Madison with a new swagger this season. The change in attitude comes from their enthusiastic new head coach, Terry Hoeppner. He comes to Bloomington after a great run with Miami of Ohio. His team went 13-1 in 2003 and won 21 games in the last two seasons. In his short tenure, he seems like a success. He is the first Indiana coach to go 3-0 since 1905. If they can win this weekend, the Hoosiers will have a shot at being ranked for the first time since 1993.
He's got the Powers
Indiana has made its way through the air this season. Its prolific passing attack is led by sophomore quarterback Blake Powers. He came into the season with little experience, throwing just 22 passes in his first seasons, but he has been great in 2005. In just three games, he is fifth in the nation with 11 passing touchdowns while throwing for 718 yards and only three interceptions. He has thrown TDs to seven different receivers this year, but, his main target has been 6'7' redshirt freshman James Hardy. Hardy has 17 catches for 266 yards and three TDs. He was superb against Nicholls State, catching a touchdown with 47 seconds remaining to give the Hoosiers a victory in week two. He often uses his size to go up and get jump balls against smaller cornerbacks.
Both starting cornerbacks for the Badgers give up at least seven inches to Hardy and will need to keep an eye on him all day.
Running rampant
Brian Calhoun is the engine that makes the Wisconsin offense move. He accounted for 214 of the team's 287 yards against Michigan. His chain-moving runs have allowed the Badgers to control their games by leading the Big Ten in time of possession.
\He does a great job, taking and reading his blocks, making great cuts in the 6-7-8-yarders,"" Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr said after the game. ""Those runs keep the chains moving, maintain possession and that's what allows you to do some great things with time of possession.""
Calhoun is third in rushing in the nation with 156 yards per game. Wisconsin's strength just happens to match up with Indiana's weakness. The Hoosiers gave up more than 400 yards on the ground to Nicholls State and rank No. 104 out of 114 in the nation in rushing defense.
1-0 every week
The motto for last year's Badger team was to ""go 1-0"" every week and not overlook anybody. That same mantra can be useful for this year's group. The Badgers are now 4-0 and must not make the mistake of looking ahead to one of the bigger games against Minnesota or Iowa and ignoring an improved team like Indiana. Coach Alvarez knows the importance of ""being mature enough to handle a big win, putting the win behind you, and then moving forward."" Last year the Badgers were guilty of looking ahead to Iowa, while overlooking Michigan State and they lost 49-14 in East Lansing. This is a game the Badgers should win and they must take care of business.
