After falling to Michigan 28-21 at home last week, Rutgers football will hit the road in search of its second Big Ten win of the season. Their search will take them to Madison, Wisconsin, as they are set to take on the Badgers this Saturday.
Wisconsin will be coming into this game following a loss of their own, as they were thrashed by Iowa 30-0. Despite the loss, Wisconsin has had a good start to the year, as the Badgers currently sit at 5-3, which is a drastic turnaround from last year when the Badgers finished
4-8. Quarterback Colton Joseph has shown he can be a decent playmaker for Wisconsin, as he not only leads the team in passing, but rushing as well. So far this season, Joseph has 104 completions on 187 attempts for 1,346 yards, 11 touchdowns, and no interceptions. He also has 91 carries for 371 yards and four touchdowns. However, he has shown some struggles recently, as he was benched in the game vs. Iowa due to poor performance. Freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins came into the game and went 8/13 for 93 yards and one interception.
Wisconsin also has a reliable stable of running backs, as Abu Sama III, Darrion Dupree and Jackson Bryan II all average over four yards per carry.
The Badgers’ true strength is their defense. Linebacker Sebastian Cheeks is one of the key players on the Wisconsin defense as he has 31 total tackles, six sacks, and two forced fumbles so far this season.
“Cheeks on the outside is a great rusher, six sacks, I think he has, and just a dangerous guy. And then their two inside linebackers, young kids, both sophomores, are really good, (Cooper) Catalano and (Mason) Posa. So really a tough defense to go against,” said Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano on the Badgers’ linebacker core during his Tuesday game week press conference.
“Their D-line is unusually large. Their interior guys are 330, 325 pounds. It’s going to be a real challenge with (Charles) Perkins and (Hammond) Russell (IV). They’re really good players,” said Schiano on the rest of the defense. “Their secondary is sound, don’t try to trick you that much. They play really good technique and mix it up enough to keep you off balance, but really play great technique.”
With a defense as strong as Wisconsin’s, Rutgers will need to be at full strength to have a good chance at moving the ball and putting up points. KJ Duff got banged up early in the Knights game against Michigan after being listed as questionable the week before. He is listed as doubtful as of Wednesday’s availability report. The report also lists starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan as out once again, meaning AJ Surace will likely get the nod. He completed just three of 12 passes last week against the Wolverines. Offensively, the Badgers are an unfavorable matchup for the Knights, assuming Joseph gets the start, because of Rutgers struggles to defend mobile quarterbacks. The Knights’ run defense overall has been tough to watch as well, which adds to the concern for this game.
Rutgers vs. Wisconsin will kick off at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, with a live broadcast being available on the Big Ten Network.
