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PROVO — No disrespect to the Texas Longhorns, but the biggest game on BYU’s schedule is this week, as the Cougars travel to Big Ten country to take on one of America’s traditional college football powers, the Wisconsin Badgers.
When Barry Alvarez and Tom Holmoe announced an agreement last year for BYU to travel to Camp Randall, the game was certainly met with excitement and intrigue. Now that former in-state foe Gary Andersen is coaching the Badgers, the game is bigger and more meaningful than either administration could have ever dreamed.
BYU’s season has been a microcosm of how fast things can go from good to bad to getting better with each passing day. After a 20-13 loss to rival Utah, the Cougars sat with a record of 1-2 and were talked about as the third-best college football team in the Beehive state. A win over Utah State took that title away, and now the Cougars are the only bowl-eligible team in Utah.
BYU is back to looking for national respect, and a win over the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison would do that. However, it will not be an easy task. The Badgers are 6-2, and would be 7-1 were it not for poor officiating in the final moments of a loss at Arizona State. Also, they feature one of the nation’s top defenses (fifth in allowed points per game) and one of its top rushing attacks (10th in rushing yards per game). All in all, the 2013 Badgers perfectly mimic the blueprint set by Alvarez as he molded Wisconsin into the Big Ten power it is today.
As BYU features one of the nation’s top defenses as well, this week’s game will feature a key battle between the Wisconsin defense and the BYU offense.
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Why this matchup?
Looking at BYU’s schedule, it is fairly simple to see when the offense plays well, BYU wins. When the offense doesn’t play well, it doesn’t matter how good the Cougars’ defense is — they struggle to maintain field position and time of possession.
Wisconsin’s defense is built to do two things very well — stop the running game and put pressure on the quarterback. Again, the Badgers only allow 15 points a game and gave up only 6 points to then-19th-ranked Northwestern just a few weeks ago.
BYU’s offense requires a strong rushing attack mixed with the quarterback being a multi-threat option. In watching the Badgers, it is easy to notice they congregate at the football. Wisconsin is a unique opponent for BYU in that they have the tools to physically matchup with the Cougars, man-to-man. That puts the pressure on Robert Anae to find ways to be creative with BYU’s offense.
Without a doubt, Wisconsin will load the tackle box with at least seven defenders, and then look for their defensive backs to play in man-to-man coverage. If the Badgers can get consistent pressure on BYU quarterback Taysom Hill, this is a matchup Wisconsin will exploit.
Who wins this matchup?
For fans of physical defensive play, this game is a match made in heaven. A physical, aggressive Big Ten team facing off against a physical, aggressive independent that has nothing to lose and everything to gain by winning.
BYU has improved a great deal since the loss to Utah, but Wisconsin is a whole different animal. Think the Utah State teams that have taken the Cougars down to the wire, but with much better athletes.
Wisconsin’s record at Camp Randall is stellar, and that won’t change this week. The Badgers will do what they do against BYU — block and tackle.
