The Wisconsin Badgers are taking on the No. 19 Alabama Crimson Tide on the road on Saturday, looking to make a statement in their biggest game of the season to date.
Here are three keys to the game for the Wisconsin Badgers as they look to upset Alabama.
Quick Start
“This is not the way we want to play as a whole, in particular, the first half. But we got to continue to grow, and we understand what the journey in front of us and the mountain looks like, and we continue to climb.”
This was what Luke Fickell said
about Wisconsin’s slow start in their win against Middle Tennessee, and he’s exactly right.
Wisconsin has failed to score a first-quarter touchdown against Miami (OH) and Middle Tennessee. In addition, they have only scored 20 first-half points through those two games. If the Badgers want to deliver one of the biggest upsets of the college football season, they must get off to a fast start and get into the end zone.
Dominate the Line of Scrimmage on both sides
Wisconsin’s offensive line will face an Alabama defensive line that has been affected by injuries to Tim Keenan III and Jeremiah Beaman. While LT Overton will undoubtedly be a challenge for Wisconsin, the Badgers must rely on their reshuffled offensive line to play their best game of the year to come away with an upset.
Against Middle Tennessee, Wisconsin center Kerry Kodanko was responsible for multiple high snaps to quarterback Danny O’Neil. You can get away with those high snaps against MTSU, but not against Alabama.
On the other hand, the Alabama offensive line had shown some signs of vulnerability, particularly with its tackles, Kadyn Proctor and Wilkin Formby. If Mike Tressel’s unit can create defensive stunts to confuse the Tide’s offensive line, then the Badgers have a chance.
Force Turnovers
Our Michael Zehrbach nailed it in his latest article about what Wisconsin needs to do to upset Alabama. One of them was to win the turnover battle against the Crimson Tide.
Going off making Alabama’s offensive line pedestrian, the Badgers cannot let Ty Simpson get into a rhythm. Wisconsin must make Alabama throw the ball into tight coverage or put the ball on the floor for some fumble recoveries. The Crimson Tide has not thrown an interception nor fumbled the ball for a turnover through its first two games.
This Saturday would be a perfect time for Alabama to be sloppy with the football.
