Tom Oates on Badgers-Nebraska and more

With one very notable exception, no team has enjoyed the sight of Nebraska more recently than Wisconsin.

Nebraska opens its Big Ten Conference home slate on Saturday afternoon when the Huskers welcome Wisconsin to Memorial Stadium. I suppose there’s a few truth to that, but the Cornhuskers’ leaky passing defense allowed Southern Miss to come from behind two weeks ago and made the fans in Lincoln fearful of another brutal loss. Mike Riley’s teams at Oregon State finished with a positive turnover margin in six of his final seven seasons in Corvallis, finishing in the top-40 nationally in turnover margin per game four times. The Badgers have only allowed 13 drives to cross their 40 in the past four games. Despite the anemic offensive performance, Wisconsin won’t be a rattled bunch entering their first road game at Nebraska. As of right now, he’s Wisconsin’s third leading receiver after Alex Erickson and Robert Wheelwright. In what must be an even bigger surprise in Madison than it is in Lincoln, Wisconsin is only averaging 4.94 sack-adjusted yards per carry, which ranks 66. And a year after dropping and fumbling any ball that got close to him, Traylor had become Mr. Dependable for quarterback Joel Stave. He’s a huge contributor to what we do.

“We did it last game, Greg McMullen can go inside and play”, Banker said. The offense just has not found its groove yet as the effects of running back Melvin Gordon’s departure is being felt.

The injuries aren’t an excuse, running back Dare Ogunowale said. The Huskers are converting 46.67 percent on third-and-short (1-3 yards to go), which is bad.

With the Badger backline locking down and conceding hardly any looks, sophomore goalkeeper Caitlyn Clem wasn’t even called on to make a save in the game and the Hawkeyes were held to just four shots and not a single shot on goal.

It’ll also be a pretty big day on the Huskers’ sidelines.

Chryst said that offense possesses big-play ability, which the Badgers will have to limit. Tommy Armstrong played a painful to watch game as he was 10-31 with 105 yards and an interception. Of course the wind played a factor and there were a fair amount of drops by the receivers but he tried to force the ball into tight coverage. But this is Wisconsin; you know there are other backs in the program.

“I’m not going to worry; worrying won’t do me any good or our team. If we can have him back for this week that’d be great”. For the Husker offense to have true success Janovich needs to have 15-20 touches.

Despite all the injuries on the defensive side though, Banker is not one to get caught up in the negatives. Wisconsin coaches have praised Westerkamp for his ability and say he is their number one priority.

Despite coaching agains his old friend, Chryst said the focus will remain, as always, on the players. With De’Mornay Pierson-El fully healthy he should play a big part in the run and pass game.

The Huskers need to bounce back this week. It’s a must-win for both teams, but the Badgers have to have more optimism at this point, with one less loss and a walk-in-the-park schedule by comparison until late November.

As much as I dislike picking against the Huskers, I am going to this week, Wisconsin 24, Nebraska 17.