The Badgers host No. 4 Alabama in a monumental game early in the tenures of both Wisconsin skipper Luke Fickell and new Tide coach Kalen DeBoer.

BadgerBlitz.com breaks down its three keys to the when game the Badgers take the field against Alabama.

When: Saturday, Sep. 14 (11:00 A.M. CT)

Where: Camp Randall Stadium (capacity 76,118)

All-Time Series: Series tied, 1-1 (Wisconsin lead 1-0 in Madison)

TV: Fox (Gus Johnson on play-by-play, Joel Klatt as the analyst, Jenny Taft 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: Alabama -16

Projected game-time weather: 76 and partly cloudy

Alabama has seen the tape. It knows Wisconsin's run defense has been lackluster through two games. There's nothing more beneficial for a road team trying to win in a hostile environment than a porous defensive front that allows positive run after positive run. The Badgers need to tighten up their run defense so it can win on early downs and force Alabama into third-and-long situations.

When Wisconsin has forced teams into tougher third downs, it's been excellent. The Badgers have allowed opponents to convert just five of 21 third downs, good for 20th-best in the nation. That largely has to do with how good the secondary has been through two games, and indeed, the Badgers' defensive backs look like the strength of their defense. If Wisconsin can consistently force Alabama into third-and-6, third-and-7, third-and-8, it'll have a great chance to get off the field.

This is an obvious one, but why get lost in the finer details when there's a superstar quarterback staring you straight in the face? We've run out of adjectives to describe Jalen Milroe, but he has a disproportionally massive impact on the game, even for a quarterback.

His nine touchdowns through two games (five through the air, four on the ground) illustrate how central he is to everything the Tide do on offense. He's accounted for two thirds of Alabama's total touchdowns thus far.

Where the quarterback still struggles is sitting in the pocket and dissecting defenses at the intermediate level, especially when faced with pressure. If there was a day for Darryl Peterson, John Pius and company to have a career day, it would be Saturday. Generating a pass-rush will be of the utmost importance in order to make Milroe uncomfortable.

Entering Saturday's showdown, Wisconsin's offense has converted 57 percent of its third downs, good for 11th in the nation. A big reason why is the Badgers have managed to stay on schedule by limiting the negative plays and deploying an effective, if not dynamic, rushing attack.

That will absolutely need to continue against Alabama come Saturday. It would behoove the Badgers to establish the run with not just one, but two or three backs. It won't be enough to get just Chez Mellsui in rhythm, just Tawee Walker going on the ground. Wisconsin needs to let multiple backs eat in order to keep the Crimson Tide's defense off balance and alert to all possibilities.

Keeping Milroe and the explosive Alabama offense off the field will also be another huge priority, hence the importance of the running game. If the Badgers can consistently gain four, five, six yards per carry and sprinkle in a few big runs here and there, that'll keep this offense humming and set Tyler Van Dyke and the passing game up for success.

The sheer spectacle, electricity and atmosphere of this game should allow Wisconsin to create some early momentum and hang around, perhaps giving the Tide a scare into the early portions of the third quarter. But Alabama has simply been the much better team through two weeks, and unless we see exponential improvement by this offense, I don't think the Badgers have enough firepower to hang around for four quarters.

Alabama 35, Wisconsin 17

If the Tide can run the ball efficiently and take the pressure off of Milroe, the Tide will waltz their way to a victory. But if they can force Milroe to win against Wisconsin's secondary and edge rushers, it could be much closer than expected. Ultimately, the Badgers' offense simply isn't ready to account for the talent disparity. Unless Van Dyke and Longo have career days, my hopes for an upset aren't too high.

Alabama 41, Wisconsin 21

Alabama has too much skill on both sides of the ball. Unless Wisconsin gets out to an early lead, I don't expect this to be a close game in the second half. The Badgers are going to need some magic at Camp Randall today, but I don't know where that comes from.

Alabama 35, Wisconsin 17

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