MADISON - Wisconsin will look to keep pace in the Big Ten West title race as it travels to Bloomington to face Indiana.

BadgerBlitz.com breaks down its three keys to the game for Wisconsin.

When: Saturday, Nov. 4 @ 11:00 a.m.

Where: Memorial Stadium (capacity 52,626)

All-Time Series: Wisconsin leads 41-19-2 (Wisconsin leads 18-9-1 in Bloomington)

TV: BTN (Corey Provus on play-by-play, Jake Butt as the analyst and Brooke Fletcher as the sideline reporter)

Local Radio: Badger Sports Network (Matt Lepay on play-by-play, Mark Tauscher as the analyst, Patrick Herb as the sideline reporter)

Betting line: Wisconsin -9.5

Indiana's defense is certainly nothing to write home about, but neither is this Wisconsin offense. That's especially true if Braelon Allen is unable to play in Bloomington. This Hoosiers' defense isn't scary, but the Badgers will need to find a way to be able to run the football, or they'll likely be in a dogfight down to the wire.

Whether or not the Badgers can run the ball will be the biggest X-factor come Saturday. Freshman quarterback Braedyn Locke has shown some promise, namely with his poise in the pocket and in clutch situations, as well as an ability to layer the ball into tight windows. Regardless, if the game falls on Locke's shoulders, Indiana will have a serious chance to hang around and pull off the upset.

For as impressive as Locke has been given the situations he's been placed into, he's struggling with consistency. The gunslinger is completing under half of his passes at 49.5 percent. That's led to stalled drives, three-and-outs and overall offensive impotency. A reliable running game will be needed in Bloomington to help offset what's clearly not a fully functional Wisconsin passing game.

To run the ball successfully without Allen, the offensive line must play lights out to open holes for Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli. The two backup halfbacks, meanwhile, need to play to their strengths: Acker needs to get north and south and run downhill, while Yacamelli needs to get east and west by catching the ball out of the backfield in the flat.

As mentioned above, Locke is completing less than 50 percent of his passes through two-and-a-half starts this season. There's some factors beyond his control — his receivers have dropped some catchable passes, a fact Luke Fickell humorously acknowledged during his weekly press conference. Regardless, Wisconsin needs to dial up quick, easy completions to get Locke in rhythm early.

As a quarterback, Locke doesn't have the biggest arm or the most tantalizing athletic ability. He wins with his mind and accuracy, making smart decisions and finding the open receiver. Thus, the offensive scheme needs to be tailored to that strength. That involves screens, flats, slants and any other quick-hitting, timing based route. That's where the gunslinger excels.

Now, that's not to say Locke can't make big time throws. We saw it against Illinois, when he uncorked a gorgeous ball down the sideline right into Skyler Bell's breadbasket. That ability is there. But in order to tap into that aspect of his game on a more consistent basis, it would behoove the Badgers to get their young quarterback some easy completions early in the game.

Indiana's game-breaking touchdowns that went for 90 yards and 69 yards against Penn State have been a major talking point this week, and rightfully so. The Hoosiers stunned the Nittany Lions and hung around until late in the game. Meanwhile, big plays have been an issue for the Badgers' defense as of late.

"Eliminate explosive plays. Don't let them get confidence and catch us off-guard," safety Hunter Wohler said when asked what the key to stopping Indiana's offense is.

Hoosier wide outs Donaven McCulley and DeQuece Carter each showed their explosiveness with the aforementioned huge scoring plays, but tailback Jaylin Lucas is another player to keep an eye on. He was an All-American returner last season and currently leads Indiana in carries. Curiously, his biggest play this season has gone for just 25 yards. But make no mistake — Lucas has game-breaking ability. He feels like a powder keg waiting to explode.

If Wisconsin can limit the big plays, it's hard to see this Hoosier offense posing much of a threat against a rapidly improving Wisconsin defense.

It's hard to have much confidence in the Badgers' offense this week as there's a chance they'll be severely handicapped on the ground without Allen. On the flip side, I have a lot of confidence that the defense will shut Indiana down and make the Hoosiers forget all about what looked like a dynamic offense last week in State College. With that said, I'll take Wisconsin to win ugly.

Wisconsin 17, Indiana 10

This will be a discovery game for the Badgers. Locke will have to lead the offense for the first time in just his third career start. Alongside him will be Acker and Yacamelli, neither of whom we've seen with any sort of consistency. It'll be a tremendous challenge to come out with a win under such unknown circumstances. At the same time, they're playing a Hoosiers team without any real difference-makers on offense. I expect a strong performance from Wisconsin's rising defense.

Wisconsin 24, Indiana 13

I don't expect a pretty game in Bloomington, but I do expect the Badgers to come back to Madison with a victory. This game should be another momentum builder for Locke at quarterback. Now, can his receivers "touch it and clutch it?" We'll see this afternoon.

Wisconsin 24, Indiana 10

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