All-Out Blitz Week 11: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Northwestern Wildcats

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 tenth opponent, and seventh conference foe in the Northwestern Wildcats, who the Badgers will face Saturday afternoon in Camp Randall (2:30 p.m. CT, FS1).

QUICK PROGRAM FACTS

Head Coach: David Braun (4-4, first season at Indiana)

Northwestern All Time Record: 553-695-40 (.429)

2023 Record: 4-5, 2-4 Big Ten

Rankings: N/A

Series vs. Wisconsin: 38-61-5

Brendan Sullivan has started the last four games for the Wildcats after the original starting quarterback, Ben Bryant, suffered an injury against Penn State. Sullivan has played fine in his starts, throwing for 653 passing yards, five touchdowns and an interception.

The threatening part of Sullivan’s game is his willingness to run. He’s averaged 14.7 carries per game in his four games starting, and he even ran for 56 yards against Maryland.

That could pose a challenge for a defense that’s faced some recurring struggles against mobile quarterbacks.

Indiana’s Brendan Sorsby repeatedly found space to pick up some crucial first downs, taking advantage of the gaps in Wisconsin’s defense.

The pressure will be on the Badgers’ front, namely the top edge rushers in C.J. Goetz and Darryl Peterson, to not give another mediocre quarterback too much comfort.

Sullivan will look to get his two primary receivers, Bryce Kirtz and Cam Johnson, involved early. Kirtz leads the team with 507 receiving yards, which ranks seventh in the Big Ten, while Johnson isn’t too far behind with 415.

Kirtz and Johnson have cooled off since Sullivan took over, as they’ve only averaged 55.2 and 39.5 receiving yards per game, respectively, in Sullivan’s four games starting.

Regardless of the Wildcat receivers’ recent performance, they could still feasibly perform against an inconsistent Badger secondary.

Hunter Wohler has remained consistently superb, ranking second in the Big Ten with 85 total tackles, and third in solo tackles with 52.

He may have a new partner in the secondary, after Kamo’i Latu didn’t travel to Indiana due to an injury. Austin Brown stepped in for Latu and logged 61 snaps, which is easily his highest of the season.

The Wildcats may have to lean on the pass more given their relatively-weak run game.

Cam Porter leads the team with 382 yards on the ground, but only averages 27.5 rushing yards per game against Big Ten teams. This is an offense that’s only passed 100 rushing yards once in its last six games, against their only non-conference opponent in that stretch in Howard.

It will still be paramount for this front to hold up against the run, as they’ve occasionally struggled against some run-first Big Ten teams.

The Badger defense has given up over 180 rushing yards in four of their last six games.

The key to stopping the run for Wisconsin lies in their emerging inside linebacker trio — consisting of Jake Chaney, Maema Njongmeta and Jordan Turner. Chaney has been one of the pleasant surprises on the defense this season, while Njongmeta and Turner have taken turns adding support in the run game.

Saturday could be a battle of the backups, as Braedyn Locke is currently expected to start just the fourth game of his career. He looked solid in his first two starts, then his inexperience became quite obvious against Indiana.

However, Tanner Mordecai warmed up before the matchup against Indiana, and was even listed as questionable on the injury report. Luke Fickell hasn’t said much regarding his potential to play this weekend, but fans shouldn’t be shocked if he does return before the season ends.

Regardless of whoever’s taking snaps for Wisconsin, it’ll be imperative to get their few dependable receivers going.

Will Pauling has become the primary target for Locke, but he finished with just 51 receiving yards against Indiana. He still leads the team in receiving by a wide margin, with 46 catches for 500 yards on the season, and should bounce back against the Wildcats.

A secondary receiver finally seems to be emerging, in fellow-transfer Bryson Green. He’s surpassed 80 receiving yards in two of his last four games, and even scored a 54-yard touchdown last week.

The Badgers will have to watch out for Northwestern’s safety trio of Devin Turner, Coco Azema and Rod Heard II, who all rank top-five on the team in tackles.

They lead a Wildcats pass defense that’s held two of their last three opponents to less than 90 passing yards.

Wisconsin must also account for defensive lineman Aidan Hubbard, who’s recorded four of his five sacks in the last two games.

The ex-factor for Wisconsin on offense is the status of Braelon Allen.

He told 97.3 The Game on Friday evening that he believes he’ll be a “game-time decision” and is ultimately unsure of his status.

If it’s not him, the Badgers will once again look to Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli, who combined for 21 carries and 96 rushing yards against the Hoosiers in their one week as the lead backs.

Regardless of who starts at running back, they’ll have to face off against an outstanding linebacker duo in Bryce Gallagher, who leads the team with 78 tackles, and Xander Mueller, who’s not far behind him with 74. Mueller also recorded 19 tackles in the recent loss to Iowa.

This is the unit at the heart of David Braun’s defense that may ultimately dictate their success on Saturday.

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