Badger Football Preview
Collegefootballnews.com released its 2011 Wisconsin preview this week. Written by the excellent Pete Fiutak, who is a must-read during the season, the article challenges Bret Bielema’s team to take the next step to the consistently elite level of college football. It begins: “Wisconsin, your opportunity is now. This is when it’s time to become a true superpower.”
Fiutak foresees big years from senior wide receiver Nick Toon and sophomore linebacker Chris Borland. Toon, at 6-3, 213 lbs., will be getting long looks from NFL scouts this year. He had numerous injury problems last year and has yet to have a consistently strong season. Borland dislocated his shoulder early last season after a superb freshman year.
The biggest question mark will be on the defensive line. Even with JJ Watt last year, the Badgers were just 91st in the nation in tackles for loss. The pressure will be on defensive tackles Patrick Butrym and Jordan Kohout to both stay healthy and anchor the line, especially against strong running teams like Northern Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan State and Ohio State.
Quarterback Russell Wilson comes in with a reputation for ball security based on his freshman season, when he set the NCAA record for consecutive passes without an interception. However, Fiutak points out that he threw 14 interceptions last year and 25 over the last two years. Of course, that was for NC State, which had a terrible offensive line and virtually no running game.
The schedule is good early, tough late. Of the first six games, all are at home except Northern Illinois at neutral site Soldiers Field, although Wisconsin support will be overwhelming there. The out of conference slate is UNLV, Oregon State, Northern Illinois, and South Dakota, and then the Big Ten opener is against Nebraska in prime time at Camp Randall. After an open date and then Indiana at home, the Badgers have a brutal stretch where they are on the road for four of the next five weeks — at Michigan State, at Ohio State, home for Purdue, at Minnesota, at Illinois. And oh yeah, they finish at home against Penn State.
For a reminder, the Leaders Division is Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin. The Ohio State game will obviously be huge for the division title, as well as the finale against the Nittany Lions. The Badgers could be 6-0 heading into Oct. 29 in Columbus, and if they don’t win that game, they probably won’t win the division. Not making the conference championship game could make it very difficult to get an at large BCS berth, too. That game is also in prime time and will be a revenge game for the Buckeyes, as last year’s matchup was the only game that tOSU didn’t need to vacate because of Jim Tressel hiding known NCAA violations. The Bucks are also fortunate enough to have an open date the week before the game.
Fiutak concludes that the season will be a success if the Badgers get back to the BCS. He thinks an undefeated season is too much to ask, but 10-2 or 11-1 is very possible. I obviously have to agree, but there are a lot of land mines out there this year. Nebraska, at Mich. St., at Ohio St., and Penn St. at home are all brutal. A lot of things went right for Wisconsin last year, and those things tend to return to the mean. They actually deserved to lose to Arizona State, they barely beat Iowa, and they beat a terrible San Jose State team by less than two touchdowns. Of course, at the end of the regular season they may have been the best team in the nation. They need to use the Rose Bowl loss to TCU as motivation and get strong play from Wilson, and there’s a chance the defense could be a very powerful surprise.
Fiutak concludes: “A third straight double-digit win season, another trip to a BCS game, and another huge year for the Badgers should all be there for the taking. Now it’s time to get used to the role of being big-time, and now it’s time for the expectations to be sky-high on a regular basis.
“Now it’s time to be a consistent superpower.”
50 days until kickoff.
Tags: Badgers, College Football, Wisconsin Badgers
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 at 12:25 pm and is filed under College Football, Wisconsin Badgers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.