Badger of Honor » Football

Michigan State at Wisconsin: Game Time, Preview, Point Spread, Where to Watch

Dan Zinski — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:11:21 +0000

Dec. 03, 2011; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans mascot Sparty seen on the sidelines against the Wisconsin Badgers at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory credit: Michael Hickey-US PRESSWIRE

Michigan State Spartans (4-4 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) vs. Wisconsin Badgers (6-2 overall, 3-1 Big Ten)

Where: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin

When: Saturday October 27th, 2:30 PM CT

Preview

Wisconsin is now rolling inside the Big Ten, having knocked off Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota in successive weeks. The Spartans present a much bigger challenge defensively than the prior three opponents however. Michigan State is currently #1 in the conference in run defense and have allowed just 9 offensive touchdowns all year. The Badgers however are rolling on offense after struggling early. Montee Ball and James White have become a fearsome 1-2 running combo behind a revamped offensive line. QB Joel Stave struggled last week against Minnesota, and may have a tough time getting on-track against the Spartans.

Michigan State’s offense features the powerful and sometimes acrobatic running of Le’Veon Bell. Despite Bell’s presence the Spartans have struggled to score points this season. The Badgers have been strong against the run thanks to their great linebacking corps. Michigan State QB Andrew Maxwell has had an up-and-down season.

All-Time Series: Michigan State leads 29-22. In their last meeting, the Badgers defeated the Spartans 42-39 to claim the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

Point Spread: Wisconsin -6

Where to Watch/Listen:

TV: ABC/ESPN 2

Radio: Badger Sports Network

Spartan Sports Network

Satellite Radio: Sirius 125, XM 198

Via Twitter: @BadgersLive

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Ricky Wagner Still a Question Mark For Michigan State Game

Dan Zinski — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:05:41 +0000

Sep 17, 2011; Chicago, IL, USA; Wisconsin Badgers offensive tackle Ricky Wagner (58) blocks during the game against the Northern Illinois Huskies at Soldier Field. Wisconsin defeated Illinois 49-7. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

The Badgers did okay against Minnesota with Ricky Wagner on the shelf and Ryan Groy starting at left tackle. But how long can the Badgers keep it rolling with their patched-together offensive line? They’d certainly prefer to get Wagner back in there. Well, there is a chance Wagner could play this weekend against Michigan State. As you would expect, the Badgers aren’t committing one way or the other. Bart Miller says there’s a game plan in place for Wagner at left tackle and one for Groy. Sneaky Bart Miller.

So, how much of a difference would it make for the Badgers to once again roll with Groy at left tackle and Robert Burge at left guard? Like I said, the O-line was just fine against Minnesota. They tore open huge holes in the Gophers’ defensive line and created all kinds of second-level havoc with their pull blocking and misdirection. One assumes they won’t have such an easy time of it against Michigan State. Sparty is #1 in the Big 10 in run defense right now. Although, if you look at the box scores, Sparty has given up some decent rushing performances this year. Mark Weisman of Iowa got 116 on them. And Braxton Miller and Denard Robinson both had nice games running against them. Obviously those last two guys are QBs and the Badgers don’t feature that kind of running QB action.

So the question is still sort of up in the air. The Spartans don’t give up a ton of yards on the ground, but then again, they haven’t faced a RB combo like Montee Ball and James White yet. And the Badgers really do seem to have things cooking in their running game, not just with the guys toting the ball but the blocking too. It’s all coming together right now for the Badgers offense. Michigan State will be a good opponent to gauge their progress against. If they can run it on Sparty, they can probably run it on anyone.

Wisconsin vs. Minnesota Wrap: Three Big Points

Dan Zinski — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 11:36:52 +0000

Oct 20, 2012; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back James White (20) rushes with the football during the second quarter against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

Another big win for the Badgers. Three big points time…

1. Joel Stave has a ways to go.

Joel Stave will be a decent quarterback before he’s done. But right now? He’s in over his head a little bit. He’s lucky he’s in a situation where he’s not asked to do a whole lot. Just hand off. Hit a deep playaction pass now and then. Not turn the ball over. Mission accomplished against the Gophers, but not without some bumps along the way. Most of the bad stuff came in the face of the rush. The Gophers came after him hard and he took some bad sacks. Kid needs to learn to eat the ball and not lose yardage. He also needs work on throwing the ball away so it doesn’t almost get picked. Thankfully, the level of competition yesterday wasn’t exactly high, so the mistakes didn’t hurt. The experience will no doubt help him as we proceed.

2. Matt Canada has his groove on. Mostly.

Not a lot to hate on playcalling wise. There was one third down play that was incomplete to Derek Watt where you have to wonder what was going on. But outside of that, Canada pushed all the right buttons. He dialed up the deep stuff early, taking advantage of one-on-one coverage against Jared Abbrederis. That’s what you have to do if teams are going to bring their safeties up to stop the run. And of course the whole key was the way he mixed up James White and Montee Ball. They have a really nice thing going with the misdirection plays. It seems like White is better running those for whatever reason, while Ball is more of the straight-ahead guy who gets yardage after first contact. That one-two combination was more than the Gophers could handle. Their linebackers were totally wiped out of the picture. The Gophers just had no shot of stopping that once it got rolling.

3. The Badgers will be sorry they missed out on Philip Nelson.

Nelson’s going to be a good quarterback for the Gophers. If they can get him some receivers. Right now they’re sort of limited in what they can do with him. They ran a lot of zone read stuff yesterday, I guess trying to take advantage of his mobility. If you want to call that mobility. Most of that stuff looked like it was happening in slow motion, which explains why the Badgers had such an easy time stopping it. Nelson was actually good on those occasions when they let him line up and throw it. If you give the kid time he can make some things happen. He did have two picks but one of those was just a great reaction play by Devin Smith. So, the Gophers look like they have a quarterback. Now they just need some receivers and a defense.