Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the Wisconsin Badgers season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
– Wisconsin Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 8-5 overall, 5-4 in Big Ten
Head Coach: Paul Chryst, 4th year, 42-12
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WISCONSIN OFFENSE
– It’s not that the offense shut it down after Alex Hornibrook got hurt – the passing game threw it just as often with Jack Coan under center – and outside of the clunker losses against Michigan, Northwestern and Minnesota, it’s not like the running game didn’t work. The problem was that the formula didn’t necessarily work.
The defense wasn’t as strong as the 2017 version, and despite all the returning talent from the team that came within a drive against Ohio State from going to the College Football Playoff, the O wasn’t nearly as effective or efficient.
– Any improvement starts with a quick rebuild of the line that was great, but probably should’ve been better – at least in pass protection. It’s Wisconsin – about ten minutes from now, all parts of the starting five will be all-star candidates. However, even for this program, losing four starters is a big deal.
Tyler Bladasz, though, might be the nation’s top center, there’s plenty of massive next-level talents ready to fill in, and on the way is star recruit Logan Brown, a prototype NFL prospect who might just find a home right away.
– Of course the best running back in college football will do his thing, but Jonathan Taylor is a given. The Doak Walker winner ran for 2,194 yards and 16 touchdowns, but with the 545 yards of Taiwan Deal gone, he needs more help. 232-pound Nakia Watson should emerge as a strong No. 2, Garrett Groshek turned into a nice thumper and a strong receiver, and getting back Bradrick Shaw after he missed all of last year hurt helps.
– Last year’s Badger receiving corps was good, and this one might be the best the program has had in a long, long time. The top four pass catchers are good, with AJ Taylor, Danny Davis, Kendric Pryor, and TE Jake Ferguson all good enough to crank up 30 catches or more, but …
– The quarterback play has to be better. Hornibrook is now a Florida State Seminole, but the Badgers have their guy in star recruit Graham Mertz. It’s going to be junior Jack Coan’s gig at least to start fall camp – he filled in late last year and completed 60% of his throw for 515 yards and five scores with three picks – but Mertz is it, with the talent and upside to be a difference-making passer.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WISCONSIN DEFENSE
– The youth movement should pay off. The Badger D will miss a few longtime leaders in LB TJ Edwards and S D’Cota Dixon, and it’ll miss a few other excellent producers, but eight starters are back including six who were underclassmen thrown to the wolves. After a wee bit of a down year for the program defensively, here comes the bounceback.
– The pass defense turned out to be okay considering it didn’t get a lick of help from the pass rush that went from 42 sacks in 2017 to just 17, but at least the secondary is far more experienced and should be stronger overall if the plays in the backfield don’t emerge.
Scott Nelson showed up as a big-hitting – way too much so, at times – safety in his freshman year, Eric Burrell made 42 stops and now will try to replace Dixon, and the corner situation is deep with plenty of options to play around with. This is where having a a former great safety like Jim Leonhard as defensive coordinator matters. Now about that pass rush …
– It has to come from the linebackers in this defensive system, but Zack Baun is more of a good all-around defender on the outside than a hair-on-fire playmaker in the backfield like Andrew Van Ginkel was.
But Baun will do more, and it’ll be up to a relatively untested group on the other side to unearth someone who can help replace Van Ginkel and Ryan Connelly. There’s no replacing TJ Edwards, but the interior will build around Chris Orr, a solid veteran who has been through the wars.
– The secondary should be the best part of the D early on, but the line will eventually be right there. The front three got beaten up a bit against the better running teams, and there isn’t the massive Coke machine in the middle like there usually is, but the end pair of Isaiahh Loudermilk and Matt Henningsen at end and Bryson Williams on the nose will be a sound trio to build around.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP WISCONSIN PLAYERS
Best Wisconsin Offensive Player
RB Jonathan Taylor, Jr.
He’s had to work way too much with over 600 carries in his first two seasons, and he’s GOT to solve his fumbling issues inside the red zone, but if he stays in one piece, and if he chooses to stay for his senior season, he’ll probably end up breaking Ron Dayne’s NCAA all-time rushing record – he’s currently on track to do it.
The Doak Walker winner has the breakaway speed, decent power, and he’s now experienced enough in the Badger system to be even more patient and effective. When the quarterback situation became a problem late in the year, he took over and did even more – the 321-yard, three-score day against Purdue was special – but for the team, the more he can be reserved a bit and be closer to 18ish carries rather than 25 a game, the better.
2. C Tyler Bladasz, Jr.
3. OT Cole Van Lanen, Jr.
4. QB Graham Mertz, Fr.
5. OT Logan Brown, Fr.
Best Wisconsin Defensive Player
LB Zack Baun, Sr.
A bit under the radar compared to the splashier Badger defensive stars over the last few seasons, the 6-3, 225-pounder bounced back from the foot injury that cost him all of 2017 to make 63 stops with 2.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss. A great recruit for the program in 2015, he’s athletic, experienced, and now he’s the leader of a reloading D.
2. DE Isaiahh Loudermik, Jr.
3. LB Chris Orr, Sr.
4. FS Scott Nelson, Soph.
5. DT Bryson Williams, Soph.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Wisconsin Offense
The O line needs to be the real deal. It’s hard to dog an offensive line with two NFL drafted players in G Michael Deiter and OT David Edwards, and another who’s better than both of them in current C Tyler Biadasz. It’s also tough to get nitpicky about a line that paved the way for a 2,000-yard rusher. But it didn’t always take over games like it was supposed to, at least for Wisconsin.
It rose up and rimrocked Miami’s defensive front in the bowl win, and it had its moments where it did the Badger thing of wearing down defenses as games rolled on, but now it has to be better despite the loss of four starters.
More than anything else, this group is responsible for keeping the chains moving. It’s subtle, but one of the biggest differences last season was time of possession. The Badgers had the ball for over 35 minutes a game in both 2016 and 2017. Last year, too many drives fizzled as the Badgers controlled the clock for barely over 32 minutes a game.
Biggest Key To The Wisconsin Defense
Get behind the line. The Badger defense was hardly bad, and it was able come up with turnovers, but it wasn’t the force it should’ve been on third downs, and that came from not making enough plays in the backfield.
Tackles for loss were a given for Bucky year after year, but the D dipped below the 70 TFL mark for the first time since 2013, and the quarterback pressures and sacks weren’t there, either.
Oddly enough, two of the better pass rushing performances came in the blowout losses to Michigan and Penn State, but this year, the pressure has to be steadier.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Graham Mertz, Fr.
The rest of the skill parts are there, and the quarterback has to take advantage of the supporting cast, and has to keep his poise behind a rebuilding O line.
Jack Coan did what he could in place of Alex Hornibrook, and it’s very, very possible he gets the call at USF to kick things off, but to be a major player in the Big Ten chase. the Badgers might be better off living through the growing pains sure to come from their great get from the recruiting class.
Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State … everyone wanted the 6-3, 216-pounder out of Kansas, but the pure passer with next-level tools pulled off a slight surprise when picking Wisconsin. He was fine in spring ball, but he didn’t do enough to take the job by the horns.
This August, he either needs to step up and look like the franchise guy he’s expected to become, or else Coan has to rock.
Key Game To The Wisconsin Season
Michigan, Oct. 21
The Badgers have to go to Ohio State and host Michigan State. They have to deal with Nebraska and Minnesota on the road, and have just enough dangerous other Big Ten games to deal with, too. Lose at home to Michigan
– Wisconsin Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Wisconsin Fun Stats
– Penalties: Wisconsin 74 for 657 yards – Opponents 44 for 421 yards
– Average Yards Per Carry: Wisconsin 6.2 – Opponents 4.4
– Red Zone TDs: Wisconsin 37-of-53 (70%) – Opponents 23-of-44 (52%)
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. WISCONSIN WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
Last year’s team just didn’t seem to have it.
It was better than BYU and Northwestern, and it was certainly better than Michigan – but it didn’t play like it in any of those three losses – and it was thoroughly outclassed by Michigan and Penn State. Even so, it was still a nice eight-win season with a dominant bowl victory.
For a program used to owning the Big Ten West and being in the hunt for a College Football Playoff spot, though, it was a massive disappointment.
And now it’s time to reestablish the dominance in the division. Iowa and Northwestern will be just as strong, if not better, and Nebraska and Minnesota are rising up fast.
The Badgers will likely be dismissed a bit considering all of the national focus on the Huskers and – to a certain extent – the Wildcats, not to mention all the stars in the Big Ten East, but that’s a big, big mistake.
As long as the offensive line can instantly reload, and if the quarterback situation can be dependable, and the pass rush can reemerge, the machine might just turn back on and make it five double-digit win seasons in the last six.
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 9
After the BYU disaster of last season, nothing is a given in the weak non-conference schedule, but as long as the Badgers get by USF in Tampa to kick things off, there won’t be any issues outside of the Big Ten.
They get Northwestern, Iowa and Purdue at home, but they have to go to Nebraska and Minnesota, deal with Michigan and Michigan State at home, and Ohio State on the road.
UW will rebound enough this year to take two of the three games against the giants of the East, they’ll drop a West game it probably shouldn’t – Nebraska seems about right – and will whiff on a random game when the inexperience at quarterback shows through. Even though, it’ll manage to get in contention for double-digit wins going into the bowl season.
It might not be a College Football Playoff run for a program that’s been achingly close, but it’ll be a stepping-stone season with big things coming.
The 2020 team should be a killer, and the 2019 version won’t be bad, either.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
