BadgerBlitz.com Buy or Sell: Week 9 Storylines vs. Ohio State

Madison — The Badgers will look to shock the world and catapult back into the rankings with what would be an astonishing upset against Ohio State.

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: Sell

In Ohio State's evisceration of Wisconsin last season, the Buckeyes compiled 281 yards through the air and five touchdowns. The Badgers' secondary, for all intents and purposes, was utterly annihilated.

Curiously, though, they somehow managed to keep all-everything wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in check throughout the game — he was limited to three catches for 45 yards.

Now, limiting Harrison's impact had little to no effect on the outcome. As I said, the Badgers' secondary still got surgically destroyed. However, it'll once again be imperative to limit the superstar receiver's impact on the game come Saturday.

If Wisconsin can shut down Harrison, there's a chance it actually makes an impact on the game this time around. Harrison is the Buckeye's leading receiver by far, and he's been the security blanket and go-to target for the young quarterback Kyle McCord. The two played together in high school, which explains a lot. If the Badgers can limit Harrison, there's a chance they also throw McCord off his game.

Still, I can't see the wide out posting another meager stat line on Saturday. A big reason why is that Ohio State expects to have dynamic receiver Emeka Egbuka back in action, which will force Wisconsin to divert attention away from Harrison and not double him up every chance they get.

DONNIE: Sell

Despite their success against him last year, it’s hard to feel confident in any team’s ability to limit a receiver like Harrison.

He leads the Big Ten in receiving yards, with over 200 more than anyone else. The only weeks where he failed to reach 100 receiving yards were against Indiana and Notre Dame, the two games he’s suffered an injury.

Harrison’s even coming off of his best game of the season, where he caught 11 balls for 162 yards and the game-securing touchdown against one of the best defenses in the country.

I would maybe feel more confidence if Wisconsin’s pass defense warranted it.

They’re mostly untested against passing offenses. And for the few weeks they have played pass-heavy offenses, the results weren’t too promising.

The most impressive thing they’ve done all season was limit Isaiah Williams to just 16 yards last week.

They’ll also have to defend an Ohio State offense that’s likely getting Emeka Egbuka back from an injury, which will open up even more for Harrison.

It doesn’t really matter how much attention is devoted to stopping Harrison. He’s torched almost every defense he’s played, and I expect the same on Saturday.

SEAMUS: Buy

Let's make something clear. Braedyn Locke could impress me even if the Badgers lose by three or four scores Saturday night.

The odds are stacked against the redshirt freshman. Not only does he have to face No. 3 Ohio State in just his second career start, but this is the best Buckeyes' defense since the 2019 unit that boasted Chase Young and Jeff Okudah. Ohio State is significantly better than Wisconsin in just about every facet.

What Locke can do to continue to impress, even in what figures to be a lopsided loss, is show the same immense poise and confidence that he exuded down multiple scores on the road in his first career start. If he plays admirably and doesn't get rattled by one of the best team's he'll ever face in his college career, I'll be impressed.

Now with that being said, imagine how much the legend of Locke would swell if after a two-score road comeback in his first career start, he topples the Buckeyes under the lights...

DONNIE: Sell

I can only see him “impress” if we lower the bar to the floor.

This will be just the second start of his career. He looked quite impressive last week in his first start, when he stole a win from the Illini after leading two fourth-quarter touchdown drives.

What can’t be forgotten about the Illinois comeback is that it only happened after the Illini defense lost defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton, an All-American who was the best player on the field last Saturday. The offensive line couldn’t handle him, and neither could Locke.

The loss of Newton turned a pretty good Illinois defense into mediocre.

Wisconsin will now turn their attention toward a defensive front with multiple game-wreckers.

They have two defensive linemen with over 20 pressures in JT Tuimoloau and Michael Hall Jr., according to Pro Football Focus. Tuimoloau is even coming off of a seven-pressure performance against Penn State’s Drew Allar.

The defense as a whole made Allar, one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten, look like he’s barely played.

I can’t imagine what they’ll do against a quarterback who’s actually barely played.

SEAMUS: Sell

I still can't wrap my head around why this spread is as small as it is.

My only logical explanation is that Vegas is giving the nighttime environment in Camp Randall a lot of credit, which is ultimately fair. Still, this Buckeyes team looks rather unstoppable at the moment.

Despite a promising performance from Locke a week ago, this is not a Badgers' offense that looks like it can score early and often, both of which will be absolutely imperative.

As for the defense, they need to get pressure on McCord to have a shot. Rushing the passer hasn't been one of Wisconsin's strengths this season by any stretch of the imagination.

I expect the Buckeyes to cover quite handily on Saturday.

DONNIE: Sell

I can think of only two reasons why the spread isn’t much higher.

The first is possible optimism for Locke after last week’s comeback. I already explained why I thought it was somewhat flukey, but I didn’t mention that the offense looked moribund for the majority of the game. If the Buckeyes smell blood early, it’ll get ugly early.

The second reason is that Ohio State only beat Penn State by eight points last week. They’re not facing the Nittany Lion defense again. Wisconsin’s defense simply isn’t talented or physical enough to push the Buckeyes around.

The only way they can cover the spread is if Locke leads a few scoring drives in garbage time. But even that will be a struggle against such a deep and talented defense.

Ohio State has beaten their Big Ten opponents by an average of 24.6 points this season. I’d expect a final deficit closer to that.

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