College Football Playoff: Which Top 25 teams are contenders, pretenders?
After winning the Big Ten West in 2016 under second-year head coach Paul Chryst, Wisconsin looks primed to run the division again in 2017.
After losing their lead back, Corey Clement, to the NFL draft, the Badgers actually improved their rushing offense from 39th in the nation in 2016 to 12th in the country so far in 2017.
After only three games, the Badgers have rushed for 826 yards and eight touchdowns on only 148 carries, and have three different running backs — Jonathan Taylor, Chris James and Bradrick Shaw — who have recorded at least 100 rushing yards.
This commitment to the run has made sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook’s life a lot easier, as he has only had to attempt 70 passes in three games, completing 49 of them for 701 yards and eight touchdowns through the air.
The Badgers’ offense typically doesn’t require their quarterbacks to be world-beaters, instead favoring a game manager who keep the ball moving, and the clock running.
If Wisconsin is going to be successful in 2017 it will be directly predicated on its defensive dominance.
After fielding the seventh-ranked defense in the nation last season, Wisconsin has remained incredibly consistent in 2017, again delivering the seventh-ranked defense after three games, but this time without star linebackers T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel.
Stingy against both the pass and the run, Wisconsin’s defense has only given up 30 points in three games.
While Wisconsin will never be able to win a shootout against a high-powered offense like Penn State or TCU shot-for-shot, everyone knows that defense wins championships, and with only one ranked opponent left on their schedule, the Michigan Wolverines, the Badgers look primed to win the Big Ten West again, and compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.