Buy or Sell: Week 8 Storylines vs Rutgers

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.

"LOCKETOBER" ROLLS ON IN EVANSTON

ROHRER: Buy.

This take is more qualitative that quantitative. Yes, Braedyn Locke is statistically playing the best football of his career the past two weeks. Yes, Northwestern's passing defense is a lowly 113th in the country, allowing 261.2 yards-per-game. But this is more of a feeling based on how I've seen Locke conduct himself the past few weeks.

In the Badgers' last two games, blowout wins against hapless Purdue and Rutgers, the quarterback has had a different demeanor and body language. You can tell his confidence is exponentially greater than what it was a season ago. Last year, Locke had a tendency to let his mistakes snowball on him. The past two games, he's shown a certain fearlessness, even after he does make a mistake, that's really caught my eye.

Locke is playing with moxie, and it's permeating to the rest of the offense. Last week was a really big step forward for the gunslinger, proving the blowout against Purdue wasn't a fluke and maintaining his momentum on the road. I said it after the Rutgers game, and I'll say it again: Locke is playing like someone I wouldn't bet against right now.

SLUSHER: Sell.

Not to take anything away from Locke’s recent success, but I’m curious to see how his momentum carries over when he’s not playing an abhorrent Purdue defense, or a Rutgers defense that lost their best player, edge rusher Aaron Lewis, in the first quarter.

Northwestern’s defense is flawed, especially in the passing game, but they have two solid edge rushers — Aidan Hubbard and Anto Saka — who will make Locke’s life much tougher than the Boilermakers or Scarlet Knights ever did.

I don’t think the pressure will be so daunting that Locke will retreat into his shell, like we saw against Alabama.

But a lot of their best passing plays over the past few weeks have been deep shots that require plenty of time to develop. Hubbard and Saka will make those attempts much tougher.

It’ll be an 11:00 am Big Ten game, played in windy a stadium that’s right next to Lake Michigan, between two strong defenses. Locke will still look good, but I think Saturday will be about the running game.

THE BADGERS' OFFENSIVE LINE CONTINUES ITS STRONG PLAY AGAINST A STOUT NORTHWESTERN FRONT

ROHRER: Buy.

The Badgers offensive line has been perhaps the brightest position on the team this fall, which surely warms the hearts of Wisconsin football traditionalists. Even more encouraging than the stout play of the starting five up front is the fact that, under coach AJ Blazek, this unit is proving that it can still be the center of attention even in offensive coordinator Phil Longo's more modern scheme. The Badgers can run Longo's air raid while the big boys up front remain the heartbeat of the offense.

The past two games, Wisconsin has ran wild for 537 total yards. The offensive line is still setting the tone in the trenches, but that has, in turn, opened up the Badgers' passing game. Nothing has been more vital to Wisconsin's recent offensive resurgence than the stellar play of the offensive line.

Northwestern, however, presents a stiff challenge. It boasts the 9th-ranked rushing defense in the nation. The Wildcats have also racked up 15 sacks on the season, and have a litany of edge rushers who can penetrate the backfield. Just like a week ago in Piscataway, the epicenter of this conference clash will be the trenches.

Still, this Badgers offensive line is playing like it shouldn't be afraid of anybody. Rutgers didn't exactly boast an elite rushing defense when Wisconsin came to town, but the Scarlet Knights were fresh off an excellent performance defending the run, holding Nebraska to 2.3 yards-per-carry on 42 rushes. No matter; the Badgers ran through them like a a hot knife through butter.

Much like my previous take with Locke, this offensive front is simply playing with too much swagger and confidence right now for me to feel comfortable betting against them. The Wildcats' front seven is no laughing matter, but there's just something to be said for momentum and consecutive weeks of domination up front.

When Blazek was hired, he said something in his introductory presser that stuck with me. "I mean when people come to Madison, or we go on the road, we’re putting on a show up front. Everybody’s coming to watch the o-line play," he said. "They’ve gotta take the field, there’s 80,000 people here to see us. They’re here to watch us put on a show."

For the first time in several seasons, this unit is playing like they're the main attraction.

SLUSHER: Buy.

When last year’s 24-3 loss to Northwestern came up when speaking to coach Luke Fickell on Monday, it was clear that at least one thing in particular still irked him.

“I thought last year they controlled the line of scrimmage, and particularly better than any other game that we played last year. And when I say they controlled the line of scrimmage, that's probably me not wanting to say that they dominated us up front on both sides of the ball, but in a lot of ways, they dominated us up front on both sides of the ball and in a lot of other areas,” Fickell said.

Wisconsin mustered just 86 rushing yards on 24 carries, although they were quickly forced to abandon the run given the disparity.

If I had to guess Fickell’s biggest priority of the week, the thing he’s stressed above anything else, it’s to not get “dominated” up front once again.

Northwestern’s edge combination of Hubbard and Saka will make the offense uncomfortable and perhaps limit the deep passing game, as I mentioned before, but Saturday’s gonna be about the running game

If the offensive line is as nasty and intense as they say they wanna be, then Saturday should be a pancake fest.

WISCONSIN LIMITS LAUSCH'S MOBILITY

ROHRER: Sell.

Wildcats' quarterback Jack Lausch is an interesting story. An extremely unheralded two-star recruit from Brother Rice High School in Chicago, right in Northwestern's backyard, Lausch didn't start until Week 3 this season after the Wildcats benched the exponentially more experienced Mike Wright. Lausch has been solid with 726 passing yards, 141 rushing yards, five total touchdowns and two interceptions. His most obvious — and dangerous — trait, however, is his mobility.

Lausch's legs pop on tape. He's got the ability to get to the edge easily and deftly escape collapsing pockets. Nonetheless, he still sometimes leaves the pocket too early, over-relying on his own athleticism. He's also no Jalen Milroe, one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the sport, who ran for 74 yards on the Badgers.

Though Wisconsin will undoubtably be privy to the importance of containing Lausch, I think his mobility is what will keep Northwestern in the game. Wisconsin's pass coverage has been largely solid; I don't anticipate the quarterback finding open receiver after open receiver. Which, of course, will force him to scramble. Sometimes the Badgers will stop him with a quarterback spy or otherwise (will we see a hefty amount of snaps for Christian Alliegro?), and sometimes his athleticism will win out.

Right now, Lausch's legs are one of the best things this offense has going for it. Wisconsin won't be able to completely shut down the dual threat.

SLUSHER: Sell.

Recent history has shown us that this defensive front is not yet suited to properly defend mobile quarterbacks.

Milroe hurt them more than anybody earlier in the year, but this has been a trend since last season.

When the Badgers traveled west to take on Washington State last season, they got an early look at the Cam Ward experience. He only ended up rushing for 43 yards, but did whatever he wanted, helping the Cougars build an early lead and never looking back.

Wisconsin faced Purdue the very next week and, despite winning, let Hudson Card run as he pleased. He finished with 54 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.

The worst showing we saw came against Illinois’ Luke Altmyer, whose 100 rushing yards on 16 carries led the team.

The Badgers might’ve improved their defense over the offseason, but we saw against Milroe and Card that there’s still plenty of vulnerability when facing mobile quarterbacks.

Wisconsin’s edge rushers, namely Darryl Peterson and Leon Lowery, were excellent against the run last week in Piscataway. But until they can consistently beat tackles and actually crash the pocket, I can’t feel confident.