Fresh from their bye week the No. 25 Badgers (2-1 Big Ten, 4-2 overall) surprised Northwestern (0-2, 4-2) last week in a 35-6 triumph for Wisconsin. With less time to prepare, the Badgers will look to be ready for the well-rested Fighting Illini (0-1, 3-2).
Wisconsin will travel to Champaign, Illinois with the hopes of getting their first road win this season.
The Badgers have beaten the Fighting Illini in their last three meetings, but Illinois is not the same team they were last year.
In fact they’re almost twice the team with over 281 passing yards per game this season in comparison to last season’s 139. They are averaging 36 points per game when last season they ended averaging a mere 16 points per game.
Senior quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase is the most efficient starting quarterback in the Big Ten conference right now with a 159.2 efficiency rating. He comes second only to Ohio State’s second string senior quarterback Kenny Guiton (168.1). Scheelhaase passed 278 yards for 5 touchdowns against Miami (Ohio) in Illinois’s 50-14 victory.
Scheelhaase’s favored target this season has been sophomore running back Josh Ferguson. Ferguson is averaging 68.8 receiving yards per game and is rushing for an average of 62 yards per game. The Badgers will likely look to stop the Ferguson to Scheelhaase connection, which should not be too much of an adjustment. Wisconsin’s defense has only allowed 177.2 passing yards per game this season.
In comparison, the Fighting Illini have allowed 254.4 passing yards per game this season. However they have held their opponents to an average on 195.4 rushing yards per game. Senior linebacker Jonathan Brown will be one for Wisconsin to watch. Brown has 26 solo tackles and 34 assists in the five games he has played thus far this season.
“I think everyone will be alert to where he is,” head coach Gary Andersen said. “He’s a talented young man, the whole package. He’s physical, he’s tough minded, he plays hard.”
The Badgers offense is currently ranked first in the Big Ten in rushing yards.
They are averaging an impressive 298.2 yards per game. Badger fans had a good glimpse of the ground and pound game traditionally run by Wisconsin in the Badgers last game against Northwestern. It was headed by redshirt sophomore running back Melvin Gordon who had 22 carries for 172 yards.
Senior running back James White aided the Badgers with 19 carries for 101 yards. True freshman running back Corey Clement who has been working his way into the Wisconsin tail back core also had 4 carries for 19 yards.
The cherry on top for the Badgers was their red shirt sophomore quarterback Joel Stave who passed for 241 yards and connected twice to redshirt senior wide receiver Jared Abbrederis for 74 yards and one touchdown.
The Fighting Illini will host Wisconsin on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CT. The game will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
