MADISON - Wisconsin aims to snap its loosing streak as Northwestern rolls into town for a Saturday afternoon showdown.

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

When: Saturday, Nov. 11 @ 2:30 p.m.

Where: Camp Randall Stadium (capacity 76,118)

All-Time Series: Wisconsin leads 62-37-5 (Wisconsin leads 29-15-2 in Madison)

TV: FS1 (Chris Myers on play-by-play, Robert Smith as the analyst)

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 -11.5

Whether by air or by ground, Wisconsin absolutely must find a way to sustain drives come Saturday. This offense hasn't necessarily been lifeless — at least, not for entire games – but the lack of consistency both running and throwing the football has severely hurt this team.

In the beginning of the season, when Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi were both still healthy, the Badgers were a running team. Was the offense as proficient as most had hoped and it likely needed to be? No. But still, this team had something to hang their hat on. They had an identity. That's all been tossed out the window in recent weeks.

Whether it's the short passing game, a power running game or literally anything else Wisconsin can utilize with some form of consistent success, the Badgers are in desperate need of an identity on offense. The myriad of injuries makes it difficult, but Wisconsin needs to try to focus on a specific way to move the football against Northwestern. With the Wildcats' stingy pass defense and an uncertain situation at quarterback, the logical move here would be to give Jackson Acker as much work as he can handle.

Contain in the pocket will be huge for Wisconsin's defense against Northwestern. Brendan Sullivan in all likelihood will start under center once again for the Wildcats. The quarterback isn't exactly a dual-threat, but he can hurt defenses with his legs when there's too much traffic downfield.

Sullivan is Northwestern's second-leading rusher on the season with 160 yards. Admittedly, that's not saying much, but it still displays the quarterback's penchant for tucking the ball and trying to create on the ground. In Northwestern's upset over Maryland, Sullivan tallied 56 yards on the ground on 14 carries. Again, he's not in the mold of an elite mobile quarterback, but liken his legs to Tanner Mordecai's — he has escapability and is proficient in the read-option game.

Wisconsin has struggled to contain mobile quarterbacks all season. From Cameron Ward to Hudson Card to Luke Altmyer, signal callers that have even a dash of mobility have made the Badgers pay on the ground. Wisconsin can't let that trend continue.

Wisconsin was left with little choice but to utilize more players last weekend due to the litany of injuries on offense. Nonetheless, we saw some flashes from players that have barely touched the ball this season, such as tight end Riley Nowakowski and wide receiver Vinny Anthony.

Nowakowski has been injured for much of the year, but he finally got the chance to show what he can do in Bloomington. He had two catches for 31 yards, but more importantly displayed some powerful running after the catch with the ball in his hands and an ability to create on his own. That's exactly what the Badgers sputtering offense needs right now.

Anthony has barely been used this season. Last week, the speedster was given the ball on a reverse counter play in a short yardage situation that worked extremely well and gave Anthony a chance to make a play where he makes them best: in the open field. It was a creative play-call to an underutilized gadget player who has the potential to become much more.

Fresh ideas and players are needed to jumpstart this largely lifeless offense. The staff began to lean into that a week ago, and they'll need to continue to do to give this makeshift offense life.

This game is excruciatingly hard to predict for several reasons. For starters, we don't know what kind of backfield the Badgers will have. If Allen and Mordecai both play, I'd likely take the Badgers in a tight one. If one of them plays, it's a true toss up for me. If neither plays, I believe this is Northwestern's game to lose. What's more, Wisconsin has been mightily inconsistent all year. Locke's struggles with accuracy last week, a previously non-salient issue, came out of nowhere.

It's hard to have any faith in this Wisconsin team right now. With the Wildcats' strong pass defense, I think they can keep the Badgers out of sync just enough to steal a win in Camp Randall.

Northwestern 23, Wisconsin 17

There’s too much injury uncertainty to make any strong predictions. But Wisconsin’s ugly loss to Indiana last week makes these final three games absolutely crucial, if there are any Big Ten Championship hopes remaining.

I predict a bounce-back game for Locke and the Badgers offense, with or without Allen. But the defense typically struggles against mobile quarterbacks, so the Wildcats should stick around for most, if not all of the game.

Wisconsin 17, Northwestern 15

I think Mordecai and Allen - if they play - will spark the offense. Give me the Badgers in an ugly one to clinch a bowl birth.

Wisconsin 17, Northwestern 13

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