The Wisconsin Badgers football team (5-4) will welcome the No. 1 Oregon Ducks to Camp Randall on Saturday for their tenth game of the season.
The Badgers have performed quite average recently, with two consecutive losses against Iowa and Penn State.
The Oregon Ducks are one of two undefeated teams left in the Big Ten conference and have decimated their opponents with only a couple of close calls. This Oregon team is potentially the best-performing team in the country, and there are a couple of crucial reasons for this.
Oregon possesses star talent, with players such as quarterback Dillon Gabriel, running back Jordan James and wide receivers Tez Johnson and Evan Stewart. Similarly, on the defensive end of the football, defensive back Jabbar Muhammad and defensive line Derrick Harmon bring the same elite talent to the Ducks. Oregon also doesn’t appear to have any obvious weaknesses that create holes in their playing style on the field, manage the pocket well and ease their rushing on a variety of plays.
But Wisconsin could pull off the biggest upset of the season and make up for their recent losses. Here are three keys to a Badgers win on Saturday.
Improve the offensive line’s ability to create gaps for rushing the ball against hard defenses
In the Badgers’ last game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, they only managed 134 rushing yards on 28 attempts compared to Iowa’s 345 yards on 54 attempts, according to the UW Badgers website. And five out of Iowa's six touchdowns came from successful rushing plays, while the Badgers’ only touchdown of the game was a 25-yard pass from quarterback Braedyn Locke to wide receiver C.J. Williams.
Wisconsin’s 4.4-yard average per rush against Iowa will hardly suffice this Saturday against Oregon’s defensive line. The Badgers offensive line must find ways to create gaps for rushing the ball to give a significant number of opportunities to running backs Tawee Walker and Darrion Dupree to show what they can do.
As reported by the UW Badgers website, during the Badgers’ three-game win streak earlier in the season against Purdue, Rutgers and Northwestern, rushing was at 5.6 yards on average. This could result in a better start for Wisconsin against the Ducks if Wisconsin’s defense gets good stops on the other side.
Higher pass completions from Locke
In the Badgers’ past two losses, Locke threw one interception against Penn State, essentially the game-ender for Wisconsin, and two interceptions against Iowa. Both quarterbacks from Penn State and Iowa combined for zero interceptions.
If head coach Luke Fickell and his team want to push the ball forward against the Ducks, Locke’s pass completion must improve on Saturday. When the Badgers won three in a row during last month, Locke had a 64.76% pass completion. But so far in November, he has achieved only 52.05% pass completion.
Locke’s ability to combine with wide receivers and tight ends are paramount to improving his pass completion and to get that football to the endzone against Oregon’s defense.
Locke will look for key receivers Williams, Vinny Anthony II and Will Pauling as well as tight ends Tucker Ashcraft and Riley Nowakowski.
Utilize more ‘Nickel Defense’ formations on the defensive side of the football
The Ducks prioritize a certain type of offense known as the “blur offense” — coined by former head coach Chip Kelly, according to Sports Illustrated. They make it all about maintaining fast paces to the line quickly, run plays in rapid succession and use a no-huddle approach to keep the defense off balance and wear them down.
This Ducks squad is quite effective at running a spread offense with multiple wide receivers, creating space across the field. The spread formation helps open up running lanes while allowing the quarterback to read the defense and make quick decisions on whether to hand off, run or pass.
This is where the “Nickel Defense” formations on the defensive side of the football come into effect.
This kind of defense plays five defensive backs that add extra speed on the field. This could help counter Oregon’s spread formations and keep them to a three-and-out. Having more defensive backs will also allow the Badgers defense to match the speed of Oregon’s receivers, making it easier to stop quick passes and points.
It’s safe to say that the Badgers will have to bring an impressive and monumental change to their playbook—and make a marked improvement over how they played for the past couple of games—to emerge victorious against the Oregon Ducks this weekend.
