Yes, it was a bit of a stretch for ESPN's Bill Connelly to put the Alabama Crimson Tide as one of the 12 teams he feels there could be some panic heading into their Week 3 matchup. This is because the Crimson Tide are laying over three touchdowns at home to the visiting Wisconsin Badgers. Alabama is not the same team that it once was, but it offers far more offensive firepower than Wisconsin does.
That being said, Connelly did have a point in listing Alabama in the 'probably don't want to lose if you have CFP hopes' level of panic in Friday morning's article. He had Alabama grouped into the same cluster of teams as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Kansas State Wildcats. All three of those teams have at least one loss on the year. Alabama is 1-1, Notre Dame is 1-2 and Kansas State is 1-2...
In short, Connelly calls Alabama "maybe the single-most volatile team in the country through two weeks". For as good as the Crimson Tide looked vs. Louisiana-Monroe in Week 2, they did not look the part vs. the Florida State Seminoles in Week 1. Connelly wrote that Wisconsin is closer to being Florida State than to ULM. He has concerns about Wisconsin's offense, but is a fan of its defense.
It may have been against Miami (OH) and Middle Tennessee, but the Badgers have a strong pass rush.
Wisconsin pass rush could be the key to upsetting Alabama in Week 3
Lost in all of this is the play of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. He has put up numbers so far without turning the ball over through the air. However, he is not a mobile quarterback, meaning he could be ripe for the picking for the Wisconsin pass rush if he plans to be a statue back there all game long. This is massive for Mike Tressel's defense, as well as Luke Fickell's chances at an upset bid here.
While the rest of the country is not willing to buy into Wisconsin backup quarterback Danny O'Neil starting on a big stage like this, he does seem to provide some level of leadership that galvanizes this team, particularly in the second half. Truth be told, there may only be one way for the Badgers to win on Saturday, but it is not out of the realm of possibility either. Keep it low-scoring and force turnovers.
Ultimately, Wisconsin cannot afford to get off to another slow start. If Simpson and the rest of the Alabama offense is playing with a ton of confidence in the firs two quarters, the Badgers may not have enough talent on the offensive side of the ball to overcome such a massive first-half deficit. However, if they can thwart Simpson and make his life hell in the backfield, they will have a chance.
All the pressure is on Kalen DeBoer to win this game, but Fickell needs to show he can play the part.