T-minus three days and counting until the No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers start their 2019 campaign down in the Sunshine State.
BadgerBlitz.com brings back its "Five Burning Questions" series from years past with key areas needing to be discussed leading up to UW's season-opener Friday night on the road against South Florida.
1. Can South Florida stop Jonathan Taylor?
Yesterday in our 3-2-1 feature, we noted how last year South Florida's defense ran a 4-2-5 scheme (based on their game notes). Last season, USF gave up 247.5 yards per contest on the ground and 446.6 total yards per game.
For this week, at least, it appears the Bulls have shown a 4-3 look on its depth chart. The defensive line two-deep is stacked with mostly juniors and seniors, though the linebacking corp shows two of the three positions led by sophomores -- with freshmen behind them -- as apparent starters.
Wisconsin may technically be replacing four "regular" starters on the offensive line, but the unit looked solid during fall camp and hopes to enter the 2019 season in reload fashion. Junior Jonathan Taylor led the nation in rushing (2,194 yards) and yards per game (168.8) last season on way to All-America and Doak Walker Award accolades. He looked every bit as potent during August's fall camp, if not more, as what many saw during his standout 2018 campaign.
The hype for his Heisman candidacy starts in Tampa. Will South Florida sell out against the run, but even if so, will that be enough to contain a running back that's used to creating yards after contacting and against eight or nine-man boxes?
2. Just how much will Quintez Cephus play, and how much of an impact can he make?
The wide receiver was listed in Wisconsin's two-deep earlier this week, and head coach Paul Chryst noted on Sunday that UW will essentially see how the redshirt junior looks during this week of practice. However, he did state that the they "certainly feel like he can give us something.”
Cephus has not played since Nov. 2017 after suffering a leg injury in the road win at Indiana, but still finished that season third on the team in receptions (30), second on the team in receiving yards (501) and led the offense in touchdown catches (six).
How many snaps he plays will be worth monitoring. In just getting back on the field after officially rejoining the team last week, perhaps his presence may be limited, but he could provide another boost to Wisconsin's passing attack.
3. Will the offense show balance against the Bulls?
Speaking of both the running and passing games in the aforementioned questions, fall camp showed the latter taking encouraging steps in accuracy and stretching the field with deep throws, and the improved chemistry between the quarterbacks and wide receivers was apparent. Now the question remains if that can carry over into meaningful game action.
For what it's worth, South Florida gave up almost 200 yards a game through the air last season.
If one aspect of the game is working -- say, Taylor, Garrett Groshek or other Badgers backs running wild on the Bulls inside Raymond James Stadium -- then, of course, UW will go with what yields continued success. However, if USF is able to stop the run with a little bit of success, the UW passing game could keep that defense more honest or create big plays of its own.
4. What new wrinkles will both Wisconsin and South Florida's offenses show?
First games of the year are always tricky with new personnel on the field and potentially unexpected schemes to face. Both USF and UW will have to acclimate to what each team throws at each other.
South Florida head coach Charlie Strong hired Kerwin Bell as the team's new offensive coordinator. Bell came from Division II Valdosta State, where his offense averaged a whopping 52 points per contest. Now how that translates to FBS football with the AAC program remains to be seen, but the Bulls do return former four-star quarterback Blake Barnett. Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard and his unit will have to adapt to any unexpected formations or play calls USF may throw at them.
On the flip side, UW showed some interesting personnel of their own during fall camp, especially as BadgerBlitz.com previously wrote about with Taylor and Groshek being utilized in the backfield at the same time. With the tight end position thin besides redshirt sophomore Jake Ferguson poised for a potential all-conference year -- though he himself wore a splint on his left hand for the last fall camp practice after surgery on his thumb -- which formations and subsequent players could be used on the field?
5. How will the heat and humidity affect Wisconsin?
According to weather.com on Tuesday morning, Friday's forecast calls for thunderstorms with a high of 90 degrees and a low of 77. The humidity, muggy and swampy in nature in the Sunshine State during this time of the year, will also be factored in despite the game being played at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).
Several Wisconsin players spoke about this on Sunday afternoon when asked about playing in the Florida climate. The message already appears crystal clear from the coaching, strength and conditioning, and nutritional staffs in starting to hydrate now and not waiting for closer to kickoff to do so.
Jake Kocorowski covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JakeKoco.
