Location: Madison, WI
Stadium: Camp Randall Stadium (80,321)
Coach: Paul Chryst (2nd year): 10-3 at Wisconsin/29-22 overall, 6-2 v B1G
2015 Wisconsin Badgers (10-3)(6-2) 2016 Wisconsin Badgers
17 Alabama (Arlington, TX) 35 S3 LSU (Green Bay)
58 Miami, OH 0 S10 Akron
28 Troy 3 S17 Georgia State
28 Hawaii 0 S24 at Michigan State
6 Iowa 10 O1 at Michigan
23 at Nebraska 21 O8
24 Purdue 7 O15 Ohio State
24 at Illinois 13 O22 at Iowa
48 Rutgers 10 O29 Nebraska
31 at Maryland 24 N5 at Northwestern
7 Northwestern 13 N12 Illinois
31 at Minnesota 21 N19 at Purdue
23 Southern Cal 21 N26 Minnesota
(Holiday Bowl)
Last season at Wisconsin wasn’t really disappointing, as they hit the 10-win mark and beat USC in the Holiday Bowl. But for a school that has made the B1G Championship game three out of the five times it has been played, it also didn’t live up to their standards. The biggest offseason change was the loss of defensive coordinator Dave Arnanda, who left for LSU. That’s significant, because the Badgers led the B1G in scoring defense (13.7 points per game). Justin Wilcox, who served as defensive coordinator at USC the last two seasons, is the replacement.
Coach Chryst’s biggest task on offense is to find a quarterback, and thus far, the competition between fifth-year senior Bart Houston and redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook has been spirited, with Houston likely to get the call under center for the opener against LSU. In the seven games which he played as a backup, Houston did well, completing 57 percent of his passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns against two interceptions and Coach Chryst is expecting more out of him this year. Houston will have to find a go-to receiver this year as Alex Erickson gone to the NFL. Senior Robert Wheelwright looks to be that man as was second behind Erickson, with 32 catches for 416 yards and four touchdowns. Juniors George Rushing, Jazz Peavy, and sophomore Krenwick Sanders will also figure in to the mix, with Peavy figuring to get a starting role (20 receptions for 268 yards) and the others coming in for the three and four wideout sets. Wisconsin won’t go anywhere without improvements in the running game, as they averaged only 3.8 yards per attempt last year, their lowest since 2004. The good news for the Badgers is they should get a healthy senior Corey Clement back from an injury-plagued 2015 campaign and still managed 4.6 yards per carry. They also have senior Dare Ogunbowale, who gained 819 yards and filled in nicely during Clement’s absence. Wisconsin will usually use a fullback in their run-heavy offensive schemes and they have a couple of good ones in junior Austin Ramesh and sophomore Alec Ingold. The best news on offense is Wisconsin is more settled on the offensive line than they were at this time a year ago. Four starters return, led by All-American candidate senior Dan Voltz at center. RG and RT are ably manned by sophomores Michael Delter and Jacob Maxwell respectively, who started most of the games last season. Sophomore Beau Benzschawel is back at LT, while incoming freshman Jon Dietzen, who graduated early to attend spring practice, impressed the coaches enough to where he appears to have the edge to start at LG.
The Wisconsin defense has some talent returning despite the loss of standout linebacker Joe Schobert. The defensive line has depth and returns two key starters in ends Conor Sheehy and Chikwe Obasih, both juniors. Obasih had 41 tackles and five tackles for loss, while Sheehy chipped in 31 tackles and three tackles for loss. Sophomore Jeremy Patterson should get the starting nod at NT. The coaching staff is looking to senior Vince Biegel to step into a leadership role as an OLB after garnering 66 tackles and an amazing 14 tackled for loss and eight sacks. Senior Leon Jacobs will get the start at the other OLB position after getting ten tackles and two tackles for loss in limited action last year. The inside positions figure to be ably filled by sophomores Chris Orr and T.J. Edwards. Orr played in 10 games a year ago, managing 46 tackles and two TFLs, while Edwards led the team in tackles in 2015 with 84. The secondary has holes to fill after losing three starters. Senior Sojourn Shelton at CB will be counted on to break in the new talent. Shelton will come in with 29 tackles from a year ago and an interception. Junior Derrick Tindal has locked down the other corner position after garnering 32 tackles last year. Junior D’Cota Dixon and sophomore Arrington Farrar figure to fit in at SS and FS respectively. Dixon contributed 16 stops and Farrar six tackles last year in limited action.
Senior Andrew Endicott currently has the edge to replace departed kicker Rafael Gagliamone, while sophomore punter P.J. Rosowski had one punt for 40 yards last year.
The Badgers start out with a brutal schedule, beginning with a game at Lambeau Field against LSU. The conference schedule starts out with road games at Michigan State and at Michigan before a bye week. The Badgers then get Ohio State at home before traveling to Iowa. This schedule will make it difficult for the Badgers to get to double-digit wins this season.
PROJECTION: 8-4 (6-3) 2nd in B1G West
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