BadgerBlitz.com's weekly feature, "The 3 Cs," returns for the 2023 season. The staff takes a look at one thing we're curious, confident and concerned about heading into Wisconsin's non-conference contest against Washington State.

Staff writers Seamus Rohrer and Donnie Slusher each give their thoughts on the aforementioned topics for this week's contest.

Rohrer: I'm curious as to how the Badgers use their cornerbacks in Week 2. Against Buffalo, they had Ricardo Hallman play the field essentially the entire game while they rotated Alexander Smith and Nyzier Fourqurean at the boundary spot. At his Week 2 presser, Fickell said that they would've liked to have gotten Hallman some rest if possible as they aim to get true freshman Jonas Duclona ready to see the field.

The issue here is that now, Wisconsin must go on the road and face one of the most potent arial attacks on their schedule. That's not exactly prime time to experiment with cornerback combinations, nor is it necessarily the best time to roll out a true freshman to spell Hallman. Do we ever see Fourqurean and Smith on the field together? Will Duclona or anyone else make their 2023 debut in game two? Saturday's test against an explosive, up-tempo offense will reveal a lot about how Wisconsin views its cornerback room.

Slusher: I’m most curious to see if Tanner Mordecai’s nerves have settled. In his first game with the Badgers, he threw 31 passes for only 189 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for a lowly quarterback rating of 36.0. Worse than that, his interceptions seemed to be the results of nervousness. Both turnovers were simple, routine passes that fell into Buffalo’s hands because of poor timing and/or decision making. The first game for a new school, in front of a packed home crowd, surrounded by players and coaches you’ve never played with, can be an anxiety-inducing environment. His mistakes can be excused given the circumstances, but it’s time to improve.

He’ll now have to travel 1,600 miles - and two hours behind - to face a far better team than they did last week. The Cougars will also face improved competition compared to their first opponents, as Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler Nicolosi made just his second start last Saturday. Mordecai is in his third season starting and fifth total, with 77 passing touchdowns and close to 8,000 passing yards. He had a fantastic two years at SMU, but Badger fans won’t care until he shows he’s capable against Power Five competition.

This can either be the game where Mordecai proves why he’s worthy of the hype, or Wisconsin will continue to look limited through the air.

Rohrer: I'm confident that Tanner Mordecai will have a bounce-back performance. It was an unfortunate debut for the gunslinger, who threw two picks and often times struggled to move the ball through the air. The grizzled veteran has had his share of shaky performances across his many years of college football, but he tends to bounce back in a big way.

Last season, after throwing for just 105 yards, a touchdown and a pick with a 60 percent completion rate against Cincinnati, he came back to toss for nine touchdowns, 379 yards and a 75.7 percent completion rate against Houston. The season before that, after posting a touchdown-interception ratio of 4/3 and completing just 60.7 percent of his passes against TCU, he came back the next week against USF to throw for 301 yards and complete nearly 70 percent of his passes with a 4/1 TD-to-INT ratio. Mordecai is a gamer, and even as the competition stiffens I expect him to have a good performance on the road.

Slusher: I tried to be creative and think of something I had confidence in other than the run game, but drew a blank.

Mordecai threw two picks, looking nervous at times. The receivers were solid, but none of them stood out. The offensive line finished with a run blocking grade of 57.6, according to Pro Football Focus, considered below average. Given the talent disparity, Wisconsin’s defense as a whole gave Buffalo far too much breathing room.

So, the running backs may be the only unit worthy of complete confidence. Luckily, they should enter Saturday with momentum, coming off of a combined 313 rushing yard, four-touchdown performance. That group will now face a Washington State team that held Colorado State to just 37 rushing yards. Wisconsin has a far better rushing attack than the Rams and likely won’t play from behind for the majority of the game, but will still have more resistance on the ground than they did against Buffalo.

Rohrer: I'm fairly concerned about the Badgers being able to slow down Washington State's electric passing game led by Cameron Ward. In the Cougars' opener against Colorado State, he was masterful, tossing for 451 yards and three scores while completing 75 percent of his passes.

Wisconsin's pass defense only allowed 194 yards through the air against Buffalo and their quarterback Cole Snyder, but they still allowed two passing touchdowns in the red zone and didn't register a sack or a turnover. Players on Wisconsin's defense hold that Colorado State didn't make Ward uncomfortable enough, and that's the key to slowing him down. Still, this defense hasn't shown yet that it can make a quarterback uncomfortable, particularly from a pressure standpoint.

Slusher: I am concerned for how the Badgers will play against an offense with talent.

Wisconsin is coming off of a week where their opponent’s best players were the two primary running backs, who became pretty irrelevant after the Badgers built a lead. Snyder was athletic and capable of pulling off a few big throws, but the surrounding talent was mostly mediocre. Still, the Badgers only led 14-10 at halftime and needed a meteoric third quarter from Allen and Mellusi to build a comfortable lead.

Ward alone is far better than any player on Buffalo’s offense. He’s more athletic than Snyder with a stronger arm. He also has the advantage of receivers with experience. Fifth-year senior Lincoln Victor caught 11 passes for 168 yards last week. Josh Kelly is a transfer from Fresno who caught a touchdown along with 97 receiving yards.

On the bright side for the Badgers, the Cougars seem to be limited on the ground, as Ward was also the team’s leading rusher with 40 yards and a touchdown. Regardless, they can’t sleep easy knowing they’ll face a player who’s single handedly capable of winning a game, in a way that no one on Buffalo was.

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