Wisconsin Football: Outlining a successful game against Western Kentucky

We obviously hope Wisconsin football is victorious this weekend. Here’s a blueprint to get the job done.

Wisconsin football opens the season this Friday against an extremely outmatched Western Kentucky team. The Hilltoppers finished 6-7 last year and must replace starting quarterback Mike White, who was drafted in the Spring’s NFL Draft.

Western Kentucky doesn’t have the talent to dictate much of how this game will go, and that’s a sigh of relief for this Wisconsin team. After opening three straight years against LSU, Alabama, and LSU respectively, the Badgers deserve a few seasons of opening with more manageable opponents. This is a controversial stance, but with the strength of the Big Ten, it shouldn’t really affect Wisconsin.

This game will go how the Badgers want it to go.

Offense

For starters, the Badgers need to establish the running game early. It’s going to be the strength of this team all season long and if it doesn’t work against Western Kentucky we’re going to have some problems. The first few drives should be Jonathan Taylor’s show. If he doesn’t have at least two rushing touchdowns by the end of the first quarter, I’ll chalk it up as a disappointment.

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Taylor shouldn’t have to play the whole game and he should still get his fill of touches and yards. His individual success and any hope of winning the Heisman is secondary to the team’s success, but against an opponent like Western Kentucky, he can be fed the ball to eat up as many yards as possible throughout at least the first half.

The passing game is going to be without two majors weapons, plus tight end Zander Neuville is out for the game with a right leg injury. Alex Hornibrook should be able to throw all over Western Kentucky, but any major passing concepts should be kept out of sight until they’re needed against tougher opponents.

I’d love to see Hornibrook air it out a few times and give some receivers a chance to make a play. Wisconsin won’t need these plays to connect to win so there’s no harm in throwing a few out there for fun.

Defense

A lot of new starters will be getting their feet wet for the first time. While they may be trusted by the coaching staff to be starters, the defensive game plan needs to be safe above all else. Against a team like Western Kentucky, it could be easy to get creative and aggressive, because it’s unlikely the Hilltoppers will really be able to hurt the Badgers through four quarters, but confidence is key for these young starters.

Calling safe a safe defensive game won’t hurt the Badgers either and it will work wonders for keeping the spirits up of any new, young starters who may be nervous under the lights for the first time. And the Badger defense will still be talented enough to make plays on their own from conservative play calling.

In summation, early, heavy doses of Jonathan Taylor, a few deep balls, and safe play-calling on defense should net Wisconsin all it will need to blow out Western Kentucky. The home-field advantage and talent gap will take care of the rest.

Wisconsin isn’t a flashy program and I don’t expect that to change much for this Conference-USA opponent.