Nebraska's Dylan Raiola hoping Dillon Gabriel can help him take down Wisconsin
A lot will be on the line when the Wisconsin Badgers and Nebraska Cornhuskers face off this weekend. These Big Ten rivals are quite familiar with one another and there's always more than bragging rights on the line whenever they face off.
This Saturday will be no different, as both sides are 5-5 on the year and they're hoping to reach bowl eligibility as soon as possible. Wisconsin doesn't want to ruin its 22-year streak of appearing in a bowl game.
Leading up to kickoff, Dylan Raiola has provided the Wisconsin defense with plenty of motivation, as he essentially guaranteed a win in Week 13 for the home team. In order to try and make that happen, Raiola revealed that he has reached out to Dillon Gabriel to get advice on how to attack the Wisconsin defense. This is yet more bulletin-board material for Luke Fickell's playmakers:
Dylan Raiola is hoping Dillon Gabriel can help him take down Wisconsin
Gabriel got a first-hand look at how impressive Mike Tressel's unit can be, as the Badgers' defense gave him all sorts of issues on the night. Wisconsin laid out the blueprint on how to slow the high-octane Oregon offense. Tressel's game plan was a main reason the final score was 16-13.
However, because of the poor display for Wisconsin's offense, it was Oregon who came out on top. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo was also fired by Fickell, which speaks volumes to how awful the Wisconsin O has been for the Badgers in 2024.
It's why Wisconsin has lost five games this season, which is not what anyone was expecting. Yes, we knew the team would take a step back after Tyler Van Dike went down with his torn ACL, but it has felt like a lost campaign this fall.
With that said, things can be saved a bit if Wisconsin can close out the year with wins over Nebraska and Minnesota. Raiola wants to prevent that from happening, though, and he wants to send a statement against his Big Ten rival. The Wisconsin defense has surely seen what he's been saying this week and they're going to want to make him pay for that.