The Badgers have revenge on their minds this week as they look to atone for last season's unfathomable 24-10 home loss to Northwestern. As kickoff inches closer, let's analyze the Wildcats' roster by breaking it down, position-by-position, ahead of the Badgers' Saturday morning clash.

Jack Lausch has been Northwestern's starter for the past four games, and has yielded a mixed bag of results. The gunslinger has thrown for 726 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 53.3 percent of his passes. He's tacked on 141 yards rushing with a score in that department as well. Lausch isn't the most dangerous with his legs, but he certainly offers some escapability and can keep plays alive. As a passer, it's been hit or miss.

His backup is Mike Wright, the Mississippi State transfer who opened the season as the starter. After two lackluster performances, however, totaling 334 yards, no touchdowns and one interception on 56.9 percent completion, he was benched in favor of Lausch.

This is a three-back situation in Evanston. Carries have been split between Cam Porter, Joseph Himon II and Caleb Komolafe, and no other halfback has gotten involved in any serious capacity.

Porter leads the backfield in snaps and carries, and he was the top back for the Wildcats last season as well. The fifth-year senior has accumulated 272 yards and five touchdowns on 4.6 yards-per-carry this fall.

Himon and Komolafe have played nearly an identical number of snaps, but Himon has been much more efficient. It's taken Komolafe 34 carries to notch 80 yards, while Himon has 122 on six fewer handoffs. Himon and Porter also offer production as receivers, as they've combined for 13 catches this season.

Northwestern has two clear headliners at wideout: AJ Henning and Bryce Kirtz. Those two have accounted for the majority of the Wildcats' production through the air. Henning, a former Wolverine, has 34 grabs for 357 yards and three scores. Kirtz, meanwhile, has 25 grabs for 391 yards. Both are graduate players, and they bring experience and talent to Northwestern's wideout corps. Both are threats to take the top off the defense. Henning is primarily a slot threat, while Kirtz lines up almost exclusively on the perimeter.

The only other two wideouts that've seen snaps in this offense are Frank Covey IV and Calvin Johnson II (no relation). They've combined for 10 catches for 71 yards, and neither has had a completion go for longer than 16 yards. Johnson plays both in the slot and out wide, while Covey spends the majority of his time on the perimeter.

Thomas Gordon is the main name to know here. He has 10 grabs for 106 yards this fall, and has seen the third most targets on the team. As a 6th-year senior, he adds another veteran — if not overly explosive — option to this Wildcats' passing attack. This is his first season as a full-time starter.

Marshall Lang is the second of the two most-utilized tight ends in this offense. He's got four catches for 46 yards and a touchdown this season. Yet another redshirt/graduate senior, Lang started five games last season and adds depth to the position.

Hunter Welcing and Duke Ogles round of the tight ends that've seen the field for Northwestern. These two are seldom utilized, and each have just one catch on the year.

Northwestern has utilized 10 players on its offensive line, and hasn't deployed the same five as starters yet in a game this season. Last week, the starters from left to right were: Caleb Tiernan, Cooper Lovelace, Jackson Carsello, Josh Thompson and Ben Wrather.

The left tackle Tiernan has allowed two sacks this season, but just one additional pressure past that. Meanwhile, the only other offensive lineman Pro Football Focus has credited with allowing a sack is the right tackle Wrather. He's struggled the most in pass protection, allowing a team-leading nine pressures. Otherwise, this unit has been extremely solid in looking after its quarterback.

In terms of experience, Tiernan, Carsello and Thompson are all redshirt juniors, while Lovelace and Wrather are both graduate students. Like the rest of this offense, this is a veteran group in the offensive trenches.

R.J. Pearson and Najee Story are the starting defensive tackles in Northwestern's base 4-3 scheme. They've combined for 23 tackles and two sacks, and the dominate the snaps up front. They're the veterans of this unit as well, having both played college ball for at least four years. Pearson has an especially interesting story as he started his career at Georgia Military College, transferred to Bethune-Cookman and has now worked all the way up to Big Ten football.

Rotationally, Tyler Grant will see some time, and to a lesser extent so will Dylan Roberts and Brendan Flakes. None of them have logged outstanding stats to this point. This Wildcats' defensive line has been big-time in Northwestern's 9th-ranked rushing defense — defensive linemen have combined for 26 stops, or plays that constitute a loss for the offense. Pearson leads the way in that department with 10.

On the edge, Jaylen Pate, Michael Kilbane, Adrian Hubbard and Sean McLaughlin lead the way in terms of snaps. Hubbard has a team-leading three sacks, and also has a scoop-and-score touchdown this season. Meanwhile, McLaughlin and Kilbane have two sacks each.

This is clearly a pass-rush by committee, but it's easy to tell who's the most adept at getting to the passer. Hubbard is certainly up there with his three quarterback takedowns and 14 pressures, but Anto Saka has racked up 18 pressures and 2.5 sacks in 30 fewer pass-rushing snaps.

Northwestern tends to use a revolving door of edge players in each game, so you'll see most of those names come Saturday. While the Wildcats don't have one dominant pass-rusher, they have a litany of players who can contribute a sack here and there.

This linebacker core is led by Xander Mueller, who is once again likely the best all-around player on this defense. Last season, he tallied a team-leading 110 tackles and is well on his way to pacing Northwestern in that department again, as he leads the team with 41. He's also logged four pass breakups, a sack and a fumble recovery. Mueller is everywhere.

Mac Uihlein is the second-leading tackler with 38. He has two sacks, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery. These two home-grown Illinois natives are the heart and soul of this defense.

Behind those two, Braydon Brus is the only other player who's logged significant time. The redshirt sophomore has five total tackles this fall.

Theran Johnson and Evan Smith are the two primary outside cornerbacks for this Wildcats defense. The redshirt junior Johnson is a returning starter from last season, while the redshirt sophomore Smith is a first-year starter this fall. Josh Fussel has also gotten sizable reps on the outside after appearing in just one game last year as a true freshman.

Johnson and Smith both embody the physicality this defense wants to play with; neither is afraid to come up and make tackles. Johnson has 28, while smith has 25. Both players have intercepted a pass, but Johnson has been especially active in coverage with nine pass breakups. He's also allowed an impressive reception percentage of just 48.8 despite being targeted 41 times.

In the slot, Braden Turner holds down the nickel cornerback spot. The Alabama native is a first-year starter as well, and he's logged 22 tackles, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.

Those four cornerbacks are essentially the only players Northwestern uses at corner, as the next most-used player (Cole Shivers) has logged just 11 snaps.

Northwestern runs it back this fall with its starting safety tandem of Coco Azema and Devin Turner. The experienced starters hold down the back end in Evanston. Turner has been especially productive, as his 33 tackles are the third-most on the team. He's added two pass-breakups and an interception. Both safeties are versatile as well, playing plenty of snaps in both the box and back end.

Both starting safeties have posted respectable reception percentages, underscoring how good they've been in coverage. Azema has been targeted 10 times and allowed five catches, while Turner has been thrown at 17 times and allowed 11 receptions.

The only other safety who plays notable snaps is Robert Fitzgerald. He'll play in sub packages as a slot defender, and has 23 tackles and an interception to his name.

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