After a monumental opening weekend win at Lambeau Field, the Wisconsin Badgers (1-0) return home this weekend to take on the Akron Zips (1-0).
Coming off such an emotional win, the Badgers could be on upset alert against the Terry Bowden-coached Zips.
“They have Bowden as a head coach. If you know anything about football, that family has done a lot of great things in the sport,” said running back coach John Settle.
Bowden is the son of Bobby Bowden, renowned former head coach of Florida State who delivered two national championships to the Seminoles in the 1990s. Aside from the national titles his father won, Terry Bowden made his presence known to Settle and head coach Paul Chryst after Akron defeated Pittsburgh when they were both still there.
“They will not be intimidated by the size of the stadium,” Settle said. “They won’t be intimidated by the color of the jersey or the ‘W’ on our helmets.”
This should serve as a notice to all the players, and even the fans, that this game isn’t an automatic win. The Badgers have a history of playing down to their competition and Akron is a team that cannot be slept on.
Last week, the Badgers’ defense wasn’t challenged by quarterback play, but that will be different in this week’s matchup. Thomas Woodson will be under center for the Zips and in week one he showed the ability to be a threat from the pocket as well as on the ground. The junior completed 23 of his 32 pass attempts, leading to an impressive 407-yard day. He also had six touchdowns and just one interception.
Senior safety Leo Musso took notice of the performance and recognizes the different types of challenges that this week brings.
“They are kind of different just in terms of how they spread out a defense,” Musso said. “The frequency of shots downfield is a lot more, so that's kind of something that we are preparing for as a defense. It's a different test. We have to bottle up the QB who is obviously a dual threat dude, they have a good running back and great receivers on the outside.”
It's a test the Badgers need to pass in order to keep their momentum going. The UW secondary is in a turnover year with only a quarter of the defensive backfield returning from last season. Akron provides a good early trial to see what they can handle when the opponent’s game plan puts them in the spotlight for a full four quarters. The Badgers will likely draw up plenty of blitz packages to keep the quarterback guessing and to give the secondary some relief.
On offense, expect the Badgers to stay balanced unless they build up a huge lead. Last week was tough sledding versus the LSU front seven and this week could be more of the same. Akron only allowed 86 yards on 45 rushes, but allowed 300 yards on 28 completions in their last outing. If redshirt senior quarterback Bart Houston can clean up a few errors and continue to play at a respectable level, the passing game may be Wisconsin’s strength this week.
That being said, the Badgers’ offensive front and their running backs are different beasts than Virginia Military Institute, Akron’s last opponent. Last week the running game didn't take charge as expected, and with the potential talent on the line and in the backfield, the excuses will not last long.
“I thought a couple times we rushed some things early. [We] didn't trust it,” said Settle. “I met with Corey [Clement]. He had some nerves and butterflies going into the opener. I’m happy with what we accomplished and I do believe we will get better.”
If the Badgers can indeed get better, the ceiling could be something special. But if they are looking up to see how high they can go and lose focus on the game at hand, they may wake up on the floor. This week will be their first test of the year with actual expectations.
Despite the potential for a hangover game after the huge upset, Settle told his team to remain focused on Akron.
“We approach it the same way we approach every game. This is the biggest game of the week,” Settle said.
The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
