A key Big Ten West divisional awaits the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers when the Northwestern Wildcats prowls into Camp Randall Stadium starting on Saturday morning.

BadgerBlitz.com breaks down its three keys to the game before head coach Paul Chryst and his team take the field against Pat Fitzgerald's squad.

Wisconsin leads the nation in rush defense, allowing a mere 27 yards per game through its first three contests.

Coming into Madison, Northwestern (1-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) has struggled on offense -- even with former five-star Clemson signee Hunter Johnson under center. BadgerBlitz.com has spoken nearly ad nauseam about the fact the unit ranks among the worst in the FBS in total offense (121st, 305.3 yards per game), passing offense (123rd, 136.0 yards per game), team passing efficiency (130th, 77.05 rating) and scoring offense (128th, 15.7 points per contest).

The one bright spot for Northwestern is redshirt freshman running back Drake Anderson, who has rushed for 237 yards on a 5.3 yards per carry average.

If inside linebacker Chris Orr and the defense halt Anderson, running back Isaiah Bowser and Johnson in the run game, Northwestern will have to try to beat Wisconsin through the air. Even with the Badgers not having starting safeties Eric Burrell and Reggie Pearson available for the first half due to their targeting penalties late against Michigan, I feel that can be contained. The Wildcats also announced on Friday that its leading receiver, Bennett Skowronek, will be out for this weekend's matchup.

Take away the run, and Wisconsin should tame Northwestern's offense.

Along with the poor play in its passing game, Northwestern has also been turnover-prone in its first three games. Wildcat quarterbacks have thrown six interceptions, and the team has coughed up the ball five times -- losing two of them. Johnson has completed 48.5 percent of his passes and has thrown four of those picks.

Wisconsin, on the other side, has forced five interceptions and three lost fumbles. Pearson and outside linebacker Zack Baun lead the team with two forced fumbles each -- the team having seven altogether -- and four of the five picks by Jim Leonhard's defense have come from the secondary.

In a series where weird things happen in recent memory, winning the turnover battle is a sure way to tilt the scales to one's fortunes.

Yes, Northwestern has thwarted the back's attempts to go over the century mark over the past two seasons, and Mike Hankwitz's defense does boast all-conference defensive end Joe Gaziano and "Mike" linebacker Paddy Fisher.

However, this is the bread and butter of the Wisconsin offense, and the line helped contribute to a 359-yard rushing performance against a ranked Michigan squad a week ago.

If the Wildcats sell out for stopping the ground game of Wisconsin's, Taylor now has that elevated skill set of being a pass catcher that is a game-changer. If NU contains him running the ball, all eyes could be on how quarterback Jack Coan finds his featured back in space.

If Fisher and Co. do so there in that facet of the game, I still think there are plenty of receiving targets to find the "offensive balance" that has been flashed early on for Wisconsin. This is not last year's team that was hamstrung by its one dimensional nature, especially with the maturation and chemistry of Coan and the wide receiver group.

However, getting your Heisman-caliber back on track will always be a priority for Wisconsin.