MADISON — The Badgers desperately need a get-right win against Northwestern, a team playing better than most fans and pundits across the country expected.

As kickoff draws nearer, BadgerBlitz.com football beat writers Seamus Rohrer and Donnie Slusher will decide if they're "buying" or "selling" on various storylines surrounding the Wisconsin football program.

SEAMUS: Buy

At this point, Wisconsin's starting signal-caller for Saturday is uncertain. If Tanner Mordecai is at all ready to play a football game, he'll likely get the nod. If not, look for a bounce-back performance from Braedyn Locke.

It's no secret that Locke played poorly against the Hoosiers. The quarterback hasn't been close to flawless, but his struggles with accuracy and timing were extremely puzzling after those looked like two of his best traits in his first two career starts.

As someone that's witnessed Locke's meticulous ball placement throughout spring and fall camp, and through his first two-and-a-half games, I'm willing to write Bloomington off as a fluke — for now. The Badgers desperately need Locke to bounce back and be razor sharp with his command and decision-making against Northwestern.

The Wildcats' defense has been very serviceable, particularly against the pass. They're tanked 12th in the nation in total pass defense. Still, the level of competition is no excuse. Ohio State ranks 4th in the very same category, and Locke made some gorgeous throws against the Buckeyes that gave the Badgers an extended chance to pull the upset.

If it's Mordecai, I fully expect him to bring the bar back to where it was early in the season in regards to the passing game. If it's Locke, I'm cautiously confident that last week's struggles were an anomaly.

DONNIE: Sell

Regardless of the quarterback that starts on Saturday, the passing game will probably struggle once again if Braelon Allen misses another game.

Even in Locke’s first two games when he looked relatively decent, there were stretches and drives in which he struggled. But Allen was always there for easy, consistent yards

When those rough patches hit against Indiana, Locke had nobody to lean on.

Wisconsin is an offense that’s built on running backs. They were forced to rely on two backs without much prior experience in Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli.

Depending on Allen’s status, they’ll likely have to rely on that pair again. Yikes.

The success of the passing game will obviously depend on whoever’s taking snaps, but the receivers must also step up if they want a better result than last Saturday.

Will Pauling has become not only the No. 1 option, but he’s the quarterback’s safety blanket. Pauling is the only receiver who can consistently create separation, and mostly runs shorter routes that can lead to some quick, easy yards.

They may also lean more heavily on Bryson Green. The Oklahoma State transfer has started all season, but hasn’t made much of an impact until the past few games. Against Indiana, he had the play of the day for Wisconsin on offense when he took a short reception and turned it into a 54-yard touchdown.

However, given that there’s only one receiver who’s truly reliable, it’s hard to trust this passing game.

SEAMUS: Sell.

For the sake of the watchability of Saturday's game, you'd better hope they do. Still, I have been given no reason to believe that if Wisconsin remains without some combination of Mordecai and Allen they'll look anywhere close to competent on offense.

I've made this point several times now — Locke has shown flashes as a passer, but he's also shown he needs a serviceable ground game. That's not something Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli have proven they can provide.

Now, if Mordecai plays, that could change things. But even with the starter back in at signal caller, the sheer lack fo a rushing attack could prove as fatal as it did last week.

It's really quite simple: I'll believe it when I see it. So far, I haven't seen enough out of what's essentially Wisconsin's second-string offense to put any faith in them putting together a competent performance.

DONNIE: Sell

I agree with Seamus in that we can’t believe it until we see it. My confidence is especially low now that they’re playing a defense that’s better than the one they just put up 10 points against.

A Badgers offense that will have to lean on its passing game is facing one of the better pass defenses in the Big Ten. They allow an average of 173.6 passing yards per game, good for fourth-lowest in the conference.

When they face Big Ten quarterbacks, they only give up 159.8 passing yards per game.

The Wildcats are also coming off of a 10-7 loss to Iowa, in one of the ugliest college football games in recent memory. The Hawkeyes, despite winning, were held to 169 total yards for the game.

An injured UW offense is still better than whatever Iowa has, but it’s clear that Northwestern is capable of shutting limited offenses down. Wisconsin can’t even compensate with an elite defense or special teams like Iowa can. The offense will have to perform if they want to win, and the odds aren’t looking too favorable.

SEAMUS: Buy.

For those that need a refresher: that competition is the 126th ranked total offense, 113th ranked scoring offense, 120th ranked rushing offense and 104th ranked passing offense.

This is the hardest question to answer this week by far. The Badgers' defense is as bipolar as it gets. One week, they'll look like a legitimately stout unit against the No. 3 team in the nation. The next, they'll only allow 261 yards but still surrender big plays in key moments that doom them.

Northwestern is coming off a brutal 10-7 loss to Iowa last week. The Wildcats may have a lethargic offense, but they still managed to find the end zone against the Hawkeyes, something Wisconsin could not.

I expect this to be a slog of a game, a vintage Big Ten West masterpiece. For that reason, I do believe that the Badgers' defense will hold their own. Will it be enough? That depends on the offense.

DONNIE: Buy

The skill level or quality of Wisconsin’s opponents has little-to-no-effect on how this defense actually plays. The only thing that really matters is the number of stupid mistakes they commit and big plays they allow.

Iowa’s offense is putrid. It didn’t matter when Wisconsin played them, because their defense let Leshon Williams run for an 82-yard touchdown that ended up defining the game.

Last week against Indiana, the Badgers defense let Brendan Sorsby repeatedly carve out long drives due to his off-script scrambling and some awfully-timed Wisconsin penalties.

Despite the Wildcats’ less-than-talented offense, they still have Wisconsin’s weakness — a mobile quarterback.

Brendan Sullivan rushed for 56 yards in a close win against Maryland and is averaging 14.7 carries per game through his four starts.

Northwestern can easily look at the Indiana game as a blueprint for how a limited offense can beat the Badgers’ defense — make your quarterback run, and wait for Wisconsin to make mistakes.

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