BadgerBlitz.com brings back its All-Out Blitz weekly series, where you can find everything you need to know about Wisconsin's next opponent. We look at UW's ninth opponent, and sixth conference foe in the Indiana Hoosiers, who the Badgers will face Saturday morning in Bloomington (11:00 a.m. CT, BTN).

QUICK PROGRAM FACTS

Head Coach: Tom Allen (32-46, eighth season at Indiana)

Indiana All Time Record: 481-687-38 (.398)

2023 Record: 2-6, 0-5 Big Ten

Rankings: N/A

Series vs. Wisconsin: 19-41-2

Freshman quarterback Brendan Sorsby saw occasional action throughout the first half of the season, but has fully taken over as the starter over the past two games.

He played his best game of the season last week against Penn State, finishing with 269 passing yards and three touchdowns. But the majority of his production came from two long, miraculous touchdown passes — a 90-yarder, then a 69-yarder — which kept Indiana in the game against a far-better opponent.

It will be absolutely paramount for the Badgers to limit explosive plays, because it’s one of the only ways Indiana’s offense could stick around.

Wisconsin has steadily improved their pass defense throughout the course of the season and it was tested when Ohio State came to town. It limited Kyle McCord to a subpar game by his standards, finishing with 226 passing yards and two touchdowns, while also throwing two interceptions.

A major factor was Wisconsin’s pass rush. C.J. Goetz and Darryl Peterson are finally becoming somewhat-reliable edge rushers.

The Badgers still let Marvin Harrison Jr. finish with 123 passing yards and two touchdowns, but he is one of the best players in the country and likely the best the Badgers will face all season.

Luckily for Wisconsin, nobody on the Hoosiers is anywhere close to Harrison.

There’s no true No. 1 receiver, as four different players have at least 200 receiving yards on the season. In the two games Sorsby’s started, DeQuece Carter leads the team with six receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown, but almost all of that production came from Carter’s 90-yard touchdown last week.

In other words, Sorsby has yet to find a favorite target.

The Hoosier running back situation is almost as dysfunctional as that of the receivers. Their 109.5 rushing yards per game are third-lowest in the Big Ten. Josh Henderson returned from injury last week and was instantly given the most carries, but only rushed 12 times for 57 yards.

This matchup should feel like a night-and-day difference from the Ohio State game for the Badgers after TreVeyon Henderson ran for 162 yards and a touchdown, and had open lanes all game long.

Nobody on the Hoosiers is anywhere close to as good as Henderson, but the Badger run defense is still suspect.

The linebacker trio of Jake Chaney, Maema Njongmeta and Jordan Turner will look to lead a bounce-back performance for the run defense.

There was already enough pressure on Braedyn Locke after he took over for an injured Tanner Mordecai during the Iowa game, but now he may have to truly lead the offense.

Braelon Allen went down at the end of the first half against Ohio State with a leg injury, and his status for Saturday is still unknown.

It could be entirely up to the redshirt freshman to lead this injury-ravaged Badger team to a chance to get to the Big Ten Championship.

Edge rusher Andre Carter could be Locke’s biggest threat on Saturday. He leads the team in pressures by a wide margin with 24, according to Pro Football Focus, and has become one of the more underrated pass rushers in the Big Ten.

Given the injuries to Mordecai, Allen, Chez Mellusi and even Chimere Dike, the Badgers are in dire need of reliable leaders on offense.

They may rely even more on Will Pauling Jr., the slot receiver from Cincinnati who’s averaged 6.7 receptions in the past four games. He’s become the clear #1 receiver for the Badgers and should see even more involvement.

Luckily for Locke and the banged-up Badgers offense, this Hoosiers defense should be the worst they’ve faced in weeks. They’ve allowed 29.8 points and 363.1 yards per game, second and third worst in the Big Ten, respectively.

Their biggest weakness, however, is run defense. The Hoosiers give up an average of 169.1 rushing yards per game, which is dead last in the Big Ten.

If Allen were healthy, a great offensive performance would be nearly guaranteed. But they’ll have to rely on Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli, neither of whom were tailbacks until this year. Acker has shown some promising flashes, but only has 14 carries in the past three games. A transition to the lead tailback role could be rocky.

The new backs will have to keep their eye out for sixth-year inside linebacker Aaron Casey. His 69 tackles are currently fifth-most in the Big Ten. Casey is also most of the reason why the Hoosiers were able to stifle the Penn State offense last week.

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