Wisconsin boasts a dominant streak over Nebraska heading into this weekend's matchup. The Badgers (7-3 overall, 5-2 Big Ten) have not lost to the Huskers (3-7, 1-6) since the 2012 regular season, and it has kept the Freedom Trophy in Madison since its inception in 2014. Will UW see success over Scott Frost's program this year as it continues its journey to win the West division?

BadgerBlitz.com brings back its weekly "3Cs" column. Senior writers Jake Kocorowski and Benjamin Worgull, along with staff writer Raul Vazquez each highlight one area of curiosity, confidence and concern when UW hosts Nebraska on Saturday inside Camp Randall Stadium (2:30 p.m. CT, ABC).

Kocorowski: I’m curious to see if Wisconsin’s run game can stay on track against a sturdy Nebraska front. The Huskers are allowing 132.5 yards per contest on 3.7 yards per carry entering Saturday’s matchup. They’ve held both Michigan State and Ohio State under 100 yards rushing this season (though they gave up 204 and 182 to Michigan and Minnesota, respectively, in October).

UW is averaging 227.1 yards per contest heading into this, and tailback Braelon Allen will look to make it seven consecutive 100-yard performances in a row. Can the line assert itself against this seemingly improved Nebraska defense, and how will the true freshman -- the reigning co-offensive player of the week in the Big Ten -- fare in the home finale?

Worgull: I am intrigued by whether Nebraska actually knows what the Freedom Trophy looks like. The Huskers have never won the bronze behemoth since it was introduced in 2014, only seeing it postgame as multiple Badgers lug it back into their locker room. Since no picture exists of a Nebraska player hoisting the trophy, how is the trophy’s existence acknowledged in Lincoln? Did Nebraska build a case for it when it was first introduced? If they did, what’s currently in it? Did they put the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl trophy in it? Has the case stayed pristine and empty?

If it’s the latter, knowing the Huskers have had an empty glass trophy case sitting in their facilities for the last seven years would be comical, which is an apt description for Nebraska football since they joined the Big Ten in 2011.

Vazquez: I don’t mean to sound repetitive, but I am once again curious what kind of performance Graham Mertz and the passing offense put together. For what seemed like forever, Wisconsin was longing for a glimpse of the talent the signal caller displayed as a recruit, or any kind of flashback to the 2020 opener against Illinois. Now, Mertz has turned in back-to-back solid performances. Sure, they are against the likes of Rutgers and Northwestern, but those are encouraging signs of how he’s developed and what he can do. After genuine questions about whether or not he’d come close to materializing into type of potential he showcased as a recruit, a third straight strong showing could solidify that Mertz can be someone who can lead the Badgers to a win.

Kocorowski: I’m confident Wisconsin will have opportunities to get behind the line of scrimmage against Nebraska often and create some takeaways, even with the looming threat of Adrian Martinez’s legs. The Badgers average three per game against a Nebraska offense that has allowed 27 through 10 contests.

The key here for Wisconsin will be to wrap up Nebraska’s QB1 when given an opportunity in the backfield before he can attempt to escape and extend plays (which I’ll discuss later). The Badgers have closers in the two linebacking corp with Leo Chenal and Jack Sanborn on the inside and Nick Herbig off the edge, but it will be imperative that those who have the chances to make plays do so.

Worgull: I think we’ve run out of things to talk about regarding Allen. Seeing him play live for the first time last weekend, Allen is part battering ram, part workhorse, and part pure athlete. As quarterback Mertz said after the game, Allen is a “dog and dogs don’t have on/off switches.” Allen has topped the 100-yard mark in six straight games and scored eight touchdowns during that span. He ranks fifth nationally among running backs with at least 100 attempts, averaging 7.1 yards per carry

His last touchdown run on Saturday – bouncing off and through three defenders before accelerating to the end zone - brought back memories, for me, of runs from great UW running backs like P.J. Hill, John Clay, Montee Ball, and Jonathan Taylor. I think Allen has a chance to put his name in that category.

Vazquez: Certainly can say this for most - if not all weeks - but Wisconsin shouldn’t have a problem shutting down Nebraska's ground game. The Cornhuskers have not had an 100-yard rusher in five weeks and haven’t eclipsed 150 rushing yards in the same time frame since they ran all over Northwestern on Oct. 2.

Conversely, this past weekend was the first time in five weeks Wisconsin has allowed more than 100 rushing yards total on the ground, 68 of which came on a run where outside linebacker Nick Herbig forced a fumble that was recovered by a Northwestern player.

Kocorowski: How Wisconsin keeps Martinez’s escapability and dual-threat nature in check will be worth watching. I discussed above how I feel the Badgers’ defense will have opportunities to make game-changing plays; the flip side of that, however, is if they don’t bring down the Huskers’ signal caller and he can make productive plays when everything breaks down.

In two games against Wisconsin, Martinez has averaged 302 yards per game with three touchdowns and an interception through the air. He has also run for a combined 146 yards on 29 carries with a touchdown when facing UW in those 2018 and 2019 contests.

If he can scramble and make throws, that will make it that much harder to cover Nebraska’s leading receiver Samori Toure, who leads the Big Ten in yards per catch (21.8). UW shut down Purdue’s David Bell last month -- can they do the same with the Montana transfer?

Worgull: It’s amazing to see that a lot of the issues plaguing the Wisconsin’s offense (Mertz, blocking on the offensive line, third-down conversions) have been fixed and been an area of strength over the last month. Wisconsin’s defense is playing at an exceptionally high level (no surprise there), but as Jake alluded to, the Nebraska offense appears to be significantly better on paper than what UW has seen from Iowa, Rutgers, and Northwestern.

Thanks in part to Martinez, the Huskers are second in the Big Ten in total offense (459.2 ypg), fourth in scoring (29.8), and fifth in passing (264.8 ypg). Those marks are respectable, but it didn’t stop embattled head coach Scott Frost from firing four of his offensive assistants last Monday on the bye week, the offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach, offensive line coach/run game coordinator, running backs coach, and quarterbacks coach. That leaves Frost and the tight ends coach as the only offensive assistants left.

Nebraska pushed Ohio State at home two weekends ago by having success on the ground and in the air. Making sure Martinez (who accounted for nearly 300 yards of total offense) is under wraps is priority one for Wisconsin.

Vazquez: I am a little concerned at the lack of depth at running back now with Allen running the show. This is not to say that at all concerned that Wisconsin’s run game will suffer with Allen turning into a workhorse at the position. Coming into the season, UW was loaded with talent at the position with Chez Mellusi, Isaac Guerendo, Jalen Berger and Allen -- and now the lone backs left are Allen, Brady Schipper, Julius Davis, Jackson Acker and Grover Bortolotti.

This past weekend in a rout of Northwestern, of the 28 run plays before the fourth quarter, Allen was the ball carrier for 25 of them. For the second consecutive week, the true freshman limped off after a play, and while the loss of a talent like him would devastate any running back room, it would be a massive, massive blow for UW.

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