Wisconsin braces for impact against the No. 1 team in the nation with the mighty Oregon Ducks coming to Camp Randall on Saturday night. As kickoff inches closer, let's analyze the Ducks' roster by breaking it down, position-by-position, ahead of the Badgers' primetime clash.

Dillon Gabriel has been an excellent successor to Bo Nix in Eugene. He's operating the offense with a similar lethal efficiency, completing 74 percent of his passes for 2,848 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions. Tack on six rushing scores, and there's a reason he's in the Heisman finalist race.

His backup, the former 4th-ranked player in the 2023 class and former UCLA Bruin Dante Moore, has played in just two games. Redshirt freshman Austin Novosad has also performed some mop-up-duty.

Jordan James wasn't exactly an unknown quantity; the tailback posted 759 yards and 11 touchdowns last fall. But that was while playing second-fiddle to Bucky Irving. Now, James is the top dog in this backfield, and he's having quite the season. The junior has amassed 946 yards and 10 touchdowns on a healthy 5.7 yards-per-carry. As stout 5-foot-10, 220, James is a decisive runner who has a whopping 30 runs of 10-plus yards this fall.

Noah Whittington is his backup, and he's accounted for 383 yards and four scores on 4.5 yards-per-carry. James is the clear lead back, but Whittington is good for a handful of touches each week and averages 8.0 carries each game, not counting last week where James was limited out of precaution surrounding a minor injury.

Jayden Limar is the only other back to receive semi-frequent touches. He's been rather inefficient with just 2.9 yards-per-carry across 23 handoffs.

Oregon has a dynamic trio of receivers in Tez Johnson, Evan Stewart and Traeshon Holden. Johnson didn't play against Maryland and is questionable for Saturday night. That would be a significant loss, as while all three aforementioned wideouts ooze talent, the slot specialist Johnson has easily been the most productive with 64 catches for 649 yards and eight scores.

Stewart was likely the Ducks' biggest transfer portal commitment this offseason. A five star coming out of high school, and a five star transferring out of Texas A&M, Stewart is a well-rounded wideout with excellent hands and a propensity for getting open deep downfield. His 69-yard catch against Ohio State is the Ducks' longest play from scrimmage this season.

Holden, meanwhile, is the biggest of the trio at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. His stats are similar to Stewart's, but his yards-per-catch of 16.4 is the highest on the team. These three receivers have combined for 131 catches for 1,658 yards and 16 scores.

The only other receiver who's seen meaningful targets is Justius Lowe. He just about splits his time between the slot and the boundary, and has stepped into a starting role after Holden was internally disciplined following the Ohio State game.

Oregon involves its tight ends pretty significantly in its passing attack. The three players the Ducks use at this position — Terrance Ferguson, Kenyon Sadiq and Patrick Herbert — have combined for 57 catches, 720 yards and a score. Other than Penn State and Tyler Warren, this is the most tight-end centric offense the Badgers will face all season.

Ferguson is the clear leader of the room with 46 targets and 28 catches for 390 yards and a score. He and Sadiq line up primarily in the slot, but also spend plenty of time in-line and split out wide occasionally as well. Herbert, meanwhile, is more of the in-line blocker, as he spends about 61 percent of his snaps in that role, per Pro Football Focus.

Oregon had some issues with its offensive front in the early goings of the season. Particularly, both of its top two players at right guard — Matthew Bedford and Dave Iuli — opened the season banged up and the Ducks were forced to improvise. The offensive line struggled against Boise State and Idaho, but some smart shuffling along the starting five has tightened this unit up.

The starters in Madison, from left to right, should be as follows: Josh Conerly Jr, Nishad Strother, Iapani Laloulu, Marcus Harper II and Ajani Cornelius. The left tackle Conerly is a junior, and the center Laloulu is a sophomore, but every other starter is a senior.

The right tackle Cornelius has struggled the most in pass-protection, allowing 15 pressures and two sacks, both of which are worst on the team. But other than that, Oregon's pass-protection has been phenomenal. They've allowed just three sacks in the past eight and a half games.

The Ducks have a clear top defensive lineman, and that would be junior Derrick Harmon. He's logged 36 tackles (sixth on the defense) and three sacks. He's also logged two pass breakups and two forced fumbles. He'll be a handful for Wisconsin's guards; he spends most of his time lined up over the B-gap, per Pro Football Focus.

Houston transfer Jamaree Caldwell and sophomore A'Mauri Washington are the other two defensive linemen who have gotten the most snaps. Neither has a sack, but they've combined for 26 tackles and four pass-breakups as well. With how frequently Oregon's defensive linemen get their hands on the football, that could be a major problem for Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke who's struggled with passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.

Senior Keyon Ware-Hudson rounds out the defensive linemen who get playing time in Eugene. The Mater Dei High School product has nine tackles and a sack this fall.

Oregon's outside linebackers are its primary pass-rushers, and they're led a pair of sophomores in Teitum Tuioti and Matayo Uiagalelei. The former has three sacks, while the latter has 5.5. Both have been very solid with a pressure rate of about 10 percent in pass-rushing downs. With 38 tackles, good for third on the team, Tuioti is the more well-rounded player off the edge.

Jordan Burch and Emar'rion Winston also rotate in at outside linebacker. Burch actually has the highest pressure rate on the team at 14 percent and leads Oregon in sacks with six, but he's just the third-most utilized edge player. Winston has been much quieter, with just seven tackles this year.

Meanwhile, Jeffery Bassa, Devon Jackson and Bryce Boettcher lead the way at inside backer. Boettcher leads the team in tackles by a wide margin with 60, and also has a sack and an interception. Bassa and Jackson have nearly identical stat-lines (35 tackles, one sack, two PBUs and one forced fumble vs. 23 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two PBUs and one forced fumble). In terms of a pecking order on the inside, snaps have been distributed this way since Week 8: Bassa leading the way, followed by Boettcher, Jackson and senior Jestin Jacobs.

Overall, this is a deep and productive linebacker core, both on the edge and on the inside.

Washington transfer Jabbar Muhammad leads the way for the Ducks. After a stellar 2023 season, it's no surprise he's been excellent this fall, allowing a reception percentage of just 46.8 on 47 targets with nine PBUs to boot. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty either, with 29 tackles on the season.

The other outside cornerback spots are held down by Nikko Reed and Dontae Manning. Both have been good in coverage as well, allowing a combined reception percentage of about 51. Both players are grizzled veterans who've played over 1,000 snaps in their respective careers.

In the slot, Brandon Johnson is the primary nickel corner. The senior transfer from Duke is also loaded with experience throughout his collegiate career, and is fourth on the team with 37 tackles. These four dominate the snaps in the cornerback room, and they're a talented, veteran bunch.

Daylan Austin and Kam Alexander also get involved from time to time, but neither has hit 60 snaps and their statistics are negligible to this point.

Oregon's safeties have been the heartbeat of its defense. Each starter, Kobe Savage and Tysheem Johnson, has played well over 500 snaps. Each has exactly 47 tackles, while Johnson has picked off three passes.

Both Savage and Johnson ooze experience and moxie. Savage transferred in from Kansas State this season, while Johnson transferred in from Ole Miss two seasons ago. Both have been starters for multiple years. Both are highly versatile, splitting time between the box and the back end. There's plenty of reasons why they've been such an effective duo for the Ducks.

Past those two, Tyler Turner and Peyton Woodyard are the reserves. Both have played fewer than 100 snaps, and they've combined for 11 tackles and one PBU.

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