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Wisconsin Football: Week 11 preview vs. Michigan Wolverines

By Christian Borman

Sep 21, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers safety Eric Burrell (25) celebrates after recovering a fumble during the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 21, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers safety Eric Burrell (25) celebrates after recovering a fumble during the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Wisconsin football will play in the Big House this weekend at Michigan.

After a three week hiatus, Wisconsin football will be back on the field this Saturday. The Badgers will head to the Big House to take on the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor.

It’s nice to finally be talking about a preview for a game again. It’s been three long weeks since we’ve enjoyed some Wisconsin football! We’ve missed games against Nebraska and Purdue, but luckily, the Badgers will be back to face Michigan, still eligible to play for the Big Ten Championship game in December.

Wisconsin is playing in their first game since Graham Mertz and the Badgers whooped up on Illinois in the Big Ten’s opening weekend.

Michigan also enjoyed a nice opening-season victory over the Minnesota Gophers, a game Wisconsin fans enjoyed as well. Since then, Michigan has been a big disappointment. They lost to Michigan State the next week 27-24 at home! The Wolverines had a chance to turn things around last weekend and earn some credibility back when they took on #13 Indiana in Bloomington. They lost that game 38-21, giving up 460 total yards to the Hoosiers.

Michigan’s defense has not looked good. They have given up an average of 411.7 yards per game, which is 72nd in the country. 287 of those yards come through the air. That puts the Wolverines as the 112th ranked defense against the pass in the NCAA. If Graham Mertz plays and looks anything like he did against Illinois, he could be looking at another big game. Michigan’s defense also allows 29.7 points per game, which ranks 69th in the country.

One of the keys for this Wisconsin football team will be to get a quick start on this Michigan defense. They allow an average of 10.3 points in the first quarter, 112th in the nation.

On offense, the Wolverines are led by Jr. quarterback, Joe Milton, who has been putting up some decent stats this season. He has thrown for 869 yards with four touchdowns and two picks in three games. He’s also added 102 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Wisconsin will need to limit his rushing, or he could do more damage than Illinois quarterback Brandon Peters did in Wisconsin’s first game.

Michigan is 42nd in the country in total yards per game, with 429, just three spots behind Wisconsin. They average 139.3 rushing yards per game and 289.7 yards per game through the air. This will be a much bigger test for the Wisconsin defense than Illinois was.

I think this game will be close for a few reasons. First, the Badgers haven’t played or really practiced for a few weeks. They will need to make sure they are back in shape and could be a little rusty. Secondly, they still have to travel to Ann Arbor. It may be less daunting without a stadium full of fans, but they are still on the road.

Finally, this Michigan team has its fair share of problems and hasn’t looked that good in the past few weeks, but Wisconsin will still need to take this opponent very seriously. Michigan has very talented players and they could get it figured out by the time they play Wisconsin.

The Badgers will likely not be back to full strength by then either. Thanks to the Big Ten’s 21-day COVID protocol, some Wisconsin football players could still miss this game if they tested positive less than three weeks ago. Obviously, the team didn’t disclose who has tested positive, but the number rose for about a week and a half before they finally stopped last week. Now that it seems they have the outbreak under control, they will be able to play this Saturday against Michigan. The only question will be, who will the Badgers be missing?