Wisconsin Football: 2017 game-by-game predictions
By Shane Lunnen
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Another road trip follows Wisconsin’s win at Illinois as they head to Bloomington to take on the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers have a new head coach in Tom Allen, who was the team’s defensive coordinator last season. Richard Lagow returns at quarterback as a fifth year senior. In his first year as a starter in 2016, he threw for over 3,300 yards and 19 touchdowns. The negative is that he also threw 17 picks. Lagow will have a lot of weapons to choose from as the the receivers are stacked with talent. Juniors Nick Westbrook and Simmie Cobbs lead the way.
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Indiana has never been known for their defense, but in 2016 they turned a corner, finishing 45th in the country in total defense. That’s a big improvement for the Hoosiers who have finished in the bottom 25 percent of FBS defenses for several years. Even more good news is that nine starters return from last year’s team. The best Hoosier on the field is senior linebacker Tegray Scales. He led the team last year in tackles with 126, including 23.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. He has all Big-Ten and All-American prospects.
Indiana has the potential to surprise some teams this year and getting over the .500 mark is a real possibility. The Hoosier defense will come up with some big stops in this game to give them a chance and keep it close. This won’t be like the blowouts that we are used to seeing when these two teams meet. In the end, Indiana will run out of gas and Wisconsin scores 13 unanswered in the final frame to win their ninth of the year.